She had gotten up early like she always did. But this morning, while everyone else in the house was still sleeping, she decided to go for a short walk outside while the streets were still quiet. She would be back in just a few minutes, she told herself as she headed down the block. Since she did not know this city, she would stay close to her daughter’s home.
This was Mrs. Chen Kan Chang’s first visit to her daughter’s home in Chicago. Except for the word “Taiwan,” which was her native country, she could not say anything else in English. She knew it was not very wise for a 74-year-old lady to go too far away from home in a land she did not know or understand. So she decided it would just be a short walk around the neighborhood before the rest of the family got up.
But somewhere on her short walk she took a wrong turn, and then a second wrong turn, and then a third. Suddenly, Mrs. Chang realized she was lost. She did not have any idea how to get back home. She did not know where she was, and she could not ask anyone because she could not speak English.
Mrs. Chang was lost—lost in a large city, and she could not help herself. As bad as this seems, there is something even worse, and that is being lost and not knowing it. There are not only older people, but many boys and girls who are lost and on their way to hell. Most of them do not know it. Satan has fooled them by making them think that everything is just fine. But they have “taken a wrong turn” and are really on the road that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:1313Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: (Matthew 7:13)). Satan has “blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ... should shine unto them.” 2 Corinthians 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Are you one of these? Have you heard God’s way to be saved but have not accepted it? If so, Satan has you blindfolded and is leading you the wrong way! Satan is telling you that you do not need to be saved, or that you are too young to think about it. But let’s take off that blindfold and listen to what God says: “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2).
God loves you and wants to set you on the right way. He sent the Lord Jesus Christ, His only Son, to “seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10).
Do you want to be saved? You cannot be saved if you will not admit that you are lost. Believe that the Lord Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that His blood can wash all your sins away. Then you can have peace, knowing that you are on that road “which leadeth unto life.” Matthew 7:1414Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:14).
Mrs. Chang kept on walking. She hoped that she would walk in a circle and end up where she had begun. She walked for hours and hours, covering many miles. She walked the whole day and never stopped.
“She went out for a walk and never came back,” her daughter Gina Kung told the police. “We can’t find her anywhere. I have driven all around the neighborhood looking for her.” Soon others were looking for Mrs. Chang, too.
Night came, but Mrs. Chang kept walking. She was afraid to stop and lie down to rest. She tried to stay on the main streets where the lights were the brightest. She was unable to ask for help, unable to use a telephone, and unable to find out where she was, so she kept walking. She walked all night and on into the early hours of the next day.
She had nothing to eat. But she did find a penny on the ground, and she picked it up, putting it in her pocket. But the penny would not pay for a meal in a restaurant, or even pay for a cup of tea or a glass of milk. She kept the penny in her pocket, just in case.
She passed other people but could not talk to them. How her tired feet ached! She was thirsty, not having had anything to drink all day. She saw a sprinkler on in a yard and got a drink from it. Then she moved on. Passing through one neighborhood after another, she wandered through the city, alone, frightened and lost. No one talked to her and she talked to no one. She felt sure she was going to die.
Have you seen anyone like Mrs. Chang, who is lost and wandering around and nobody seems to care? These poor people are not lost in a big city. They are lost because they cannot find God. Have you offered to help them by giving them the right directions? Have you told them the Lord Jesus loves them and wants to bring them safely to His home in heaven?
By 9:00 that second evening Mrs. Chang had to give up. Her feet were so swollen she could hardly walk. She was so tired that she looked for a place to rest. The only place she could find that would give her a little shelter was under a bridge. At last she sat down. This was the end of her second day and the beginning of her second night lost on the lonely streets.
That is where the two policemen found her. Officers John and Jim were driving their police car slowly on their regular rounds.
“The minute we saw her, sitting back in the shadows under the bridge, we knew something was wrong,” reported Officer John. “Here was an old Oriental woman sitting in a non-Oriental neighborhood all alone in the dark.”
The two men went up to Mrs. Chang. They saw her swollen feet and sunburned face and neck. She was exhausted, but she got up and bowed to them and smiled. All she would do was smile, bow and say “Taiwan.” Finally Officer John called headquarters to see if there was an old Oriental woman reported missing in the city. Their answer was “yes,” so they gently led her back to their car.
Waiting in the car, the report came in over the radio as to who was missing. One of the officers turned to her and asked, “Chen Kan Chang?”
“A big smile came on her face,” said Officer John, “and she nodded her head. When she heard us say her name she knew she had finally been found. She was safe at last. She leaned back on the seat and immediately fell asleep. She slept all the way home.”
Mrs. Chang was found nine miles from her daughter’s home. The police have no idea how far she walked during those two days and one night, because no one, including Mrs. Chang, knew where she had been.
Yes, Mrs. Chang had been found. Now, do you think that after being found she would get back out of the car and start walking again? No, of course not. She knew that those two policemen were her salvation. God is offering free salvation to you also. All you have to do is accept it. You are at a crossroads right now. Are you going to take the right road or the wrong road?
ML-10/03/1982