A lost dog, God's intervention and Facebook

Earlier this week some friends of ours who live near Branson Missouri posted on Facebook that their 10-year-old dog, Zoom was lost.  They documented their comments with photos of the dog and their efforts to find him.  Later they posted a lost dog photo and asked for help from all their social media friends.  Prayers and offers to help came from near and far.  Our friends kept us updated on the progress of their search, checking in with their Facebook family regularly.  They posted signs, talked to rescue groups, talked to media folks in their area and searched themselves.

After three days Zoom was still missing and our friends were becoming discouraged.  They asked for prayer and intervention from God to bring their beloved pet and family member home.  It seemed that it would take a miracle for Zoom to be reunited with his family.

Then when all was seemingly lost the wife came home and Zoom was sitting on their front porch.  He was a little worse for wear but seemed fine.  After their joyous reunion they shared their excitement with all on Facebook.  There were posts of congratulations from all over the country.  Prayers had been answered and Zoom had been returned to his family.

This entire experience struck me about the power of Facebook.  Here was a family facing the loss of a member of their "pack" and they shared their loss and efforts to be reunited with Zoom with all of us.  We encouraged, cheered, offered help and prayed for a happy ending.  Efforts were being put in place to continue looking for the lost dog and the network of those involved increased with each posting on the social media site.

What really struck me was that with all our connectivity and posts and tweets and everything else sometimes it is the power of God that brings home a lost dog and reunites a family that was hurting.  No matter how digitally savvy we become we must keep in mind that God can change everything with His intervention and answer to prayer.

So this week I learned that Facebook can be a powerful tool to help us connect with others.  Yet God can be the one who intervenes and leads a lost dog back to his front porch after almost 4 days to be reunited with his family.  If you are reading this give a prayer of thanks for Zoom and his family.  Realize that God's intervention can change the outcome when all seems lost.