When people lose something dear in life — be it a simple object, a job, or even their home — American evangelist Joel Osteen wants them to "keep hoping, keep expecting, and keep declaring."
When his wife Victoria lost the ring her mother had given her several years ago, she never lost hope that she would eventually find it. Even if the rest of their family had been resigned that the ring was lost for good, Victoria always believed, "I'm closer than I think."
"After a couple of months of looking on and off, I finally had given up. That ring was nowhere to be found. But every few days, I would hear Victoria saying, 'Father, thank You that I'm going to find my ring. Thank You that You're leading me and guiding me,'" Osteen wrote on his blog.
He never said anything negative about it to his wife, but deep down, he thought that his wife was wasting her time. Even Victoria's mom noticed that she was not wearing the ring anymore, and Victoria would only answer, "Oh, Mom. I've got it put away in a really safe place."
Osteen would think to himself, "Yeah, so safe that we can't even find it."
Osteen said his wife constantly talked about finding that ring, and never once did she think that it's really lost.
Three years later, as they were driving home from Victoria, Texas, Osteen and his wife were caught speeding on the freeway by the police.
"I pulled over and the officer came up to the car. He was a real nice, polite, young man," shared Osteen. The police officer recognized Osteen for speaking at the Faith Family Church, where his father is the head usher. When he asked for Osteen's insurance card, Victoria began searching through the glove compartment.
"It was dark, and we were a little uptight about being pulled over. It seemed like we could find every card except the right one. Victoria started taking all the stuff out and moving it around. And at one point, she reached way back in there with her little finger. In the crack of the glove compartment, in the dark, she felt something sharp," Osteen narrated.
She kept digging and digging, and sure enough, she managed to pull out something — her mother's lost ring! Victoria began rejoicing and after they gave the insurance card to the police officer, they were let go.
"The point is, Victoria stayed in faith. Maybe today something is lost in your life. Maybe it's not a ring; maybe it's a relationship, or a job or something in your health. The principle is still the same. God knows where those lost things are. And He knows how to restore what's important back to you!" said Osteen.
