Whenever I travel to another country, I have a tradition. I try to find a cross to bring home.

Over the years, those crosses have become more than souvenirs to me. Each one represents a place, a people, a season, and a reminder that no matter where I travel in this world, the message of the cross remains the same. Languages change. Cultures change. Landscapes change. Churches may look different, worship may sound different, and customs may be unfamiliar, but Jesus is still Jesus.

So, on my recent trip to Southeast Asia, I began looking for a cross.

I thought it would be simple.

It wasn’t.

I looked everywhere. Other people on our team started looking. We asked locals where we might find one. We checked shops and kept our eyes open wherever we went. At some point, it almost became a team mission.

“Have you seen a cross?”

“Do you know where we can buy one?”

“Keep an eye out for one.”

But nothing.

Day after day passed, and the closer we came to the end of the trip, the more unlikely it seemed that I was going to find one. We were eventually down to our final day.

Sometimes something can seem insignificant to everyone else but still matter deeply to you.

It was just a cross.

I already knew what the cross represented. I didn’t need another object to prove my faith. God didn’t owe me a souvenir from India.

But I wanted one.

And sometimes I think God cares about those little desires of our hearts more than we realize.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

That verse does not mean God becomes a vending machine dispensing everything we want. It means that as our hearts become aligned with His, we begin to recognize His fingerprints even in the details.

And sometimes His fingerprints appear in the most unexpected places.

The Cross Nobody Was Looking For

On that last day, my good friend Tommy, an incredible prayer warrior, went out to run an errand for our team. Tommy is the kind of person who carries the presence of God with him. The moment he begins to pray, you can sense the atmosphere shift. You can feel the tangible presence of God fill the room. When he prays, heaven comes to attention and angels are dispatched.

Watching him pray over people as they renounced Islam and Hindu deities is something I will never forget. It was one of those sacred moments when you do not have to wonder if God is moving. You can feel His power at work.

But when Tommy left that day, he was not on some great spiritual quest.

He was not visiting a Christian bookstore.

He was not searching through a church gift shop.

He was simply taking care of something the team needed.

Then, while he was in a store, he happened to look down.

There, among what looked like a pile of discarded scraps, possibly metal pieces waiting to be melted down, was a cross.

Think about that.

We had looked everywhere.

We had asked everyone we could.

We had searched store after store.

We had even recruited others to help us keep an eye out.

And still, nothing.

Then, on the final day, in a place no one would have thought to look, buried among scraps, Tommy looked down and saw exactly what I had been searching for.

On the top of the cross were four letters:

INRI.

Those letters come from the Latin phrase Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum, which means, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

John 19:19 tells us, “Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

I couldn’t help but think about the irony.

A cross bearing the declaration that Jesus is King was sitting among scraps.

Something representing the greatest act of love in human history had been discarded with things that appeared to have little value.

Something precious was sitting among things destined to be melted down.

And somebody simply had to recognize it.

Maybe that is where this story becomes about more than my souvenir from India.

Maybe you know what it feels like to be among the scraps.

God Sees Value Where Others See Scrap

There are seasons when life can leave us feeling discarded.

A relationship falls apart.

A dream doesn’t happen.

A career changes.

Someone rejects us.

We make a mistake we wish we could undo.

Grief rearranges our lives.

We experience failure, disappointment, betrayal, or loss, and suddenly we begin looking at ourselves through the lens of what happened to us.

We start believing that because something has been broken, it has become worthless.

But God has never confused brokenness with worthlessness.

People may see scraps.

God sees something worth redeeming.

People may see what has been damaged.

God sees what can be restored.

People may focus on where you’ve been.

God sees where He’s taking you.

Isaiah 43:1 says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

That cross had not stopped being a cross because of where it was found.

Don’t miss that.

Its surroundings did not determine its identity.

It was still a cross among the scraps.

And your surroundings don’t determine your identity either.

It may be where you are, but it is not who you are.

You can be surrounded by disappointment and still belong to God.

You can be walking through failure and still be called.

You can feel forgotten and still be seen.

You can have scars and still have purpose.

You can be standing in the wreckage of something you thought would last forever and still have a future.

The King still knows your name.

When You’re Down to the Last Day

There was another part of this experience that spoke deeply to me.

The cross showed up on the last day.

I would have preferred finding it on the first day.

Wouldn’t you?

We like early answers.

We like prayers answered before anxiety has time to develop.

We like doors to open before we reach them.

We like provision to arrive with plenty of time left on the clock.

But God often works differently.

The Israelites reached the Red Sea before the waters parted.

Abraham climbed the mountain before he saw the ram.

Joshua marched around Jericho before the walls fell.

The disciples saw thousands of hungry people before Jesus multiplied the bread.

Mary and Martha watched Lazarus die before Jesus arrived.

Again and again, Scripture shows us a God who is not intimidated by situations that have reached the point of impossibility.

Sometimes God allows us to reach the last day because He wants us to discover that the last day is not too late for Him.

You may feel like you’re running out of time.

Keep trusting.

You may feel like you’ve looked everywhere.

Keep believing.

You may have asked everybody you know.

Keep praying.

You may see no reasonable way for the situation to change.

Remember, God is not limited to reasonable ways.

Galatians 6:9 reminds us, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

At the proper time.

Not always our preferred time.

Not always our expected time.

But the proper time.

God Knows Where It Is

Here’s another thought I haven’t been able to shake.

While I was searching for that cross, God already knew where it was.

Before I walked into the first shop, He knew.

Before we asked the first person, He knew.

Before other people began helping me look, He knew.

While I was wondering whether I would ever find one, that cross was already sitting somewhere in India.

I simply couldn’t see it yet.

And perhaps there is something you have been praying about that you cannot see yet.

You can’t see the provision.

You can’t see the answer.

You can’t see the opportunity.

You can’t see how the relationship gets restored.

You can’t see how the finances work.

You can’t see what comes next.

But your inability to see the answer does not mean God has lost track of it.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:8, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

God knows where the answer is.

God knows where the door is.

God knows where the provision is.

God knows where the right person is.

God knows what needs to happen next.

Your responsibility is not to figure out everything God knows.

Your responsibility is to trust the One who knows everything you don’t.

The Joy of Bringing It Home

The story became even more meaningful when I returned home.

I was able to present that cross to my mother along with a bronze sculpture of the Lion of Judah that I had also found for her.

There was something incredibly special about giving those gifts to her.

My mother is the most faithful prayer partner I have. She has prayed for me through victories, challenges, opportunities, uncertainties, ministry, travel, and more situations than I could ever count. Knowing she had been praying while I was halfway around the world made sharing that cross with her even more meaningful.

I wasn’t simply handing her something I purchased in India.

I was handing her a story.

A story about searching.

A story about waiting.

A story about something valuable being found among the scraps.

A story about an answer appearing on the last day.

A story about God’s faithfulness.

And beside the cross stood the Lion of Judah.

Revelation 5:5 declares, “See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed!”

What a picture.

The cross and the Lion.

The suffering Savior and the victorious King.

The One who was rejected is the One who reigns.

The One who wore the crown of thorns wears the crown of heaven.

The One Pilate identified as “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” is still King today.

Don’t Give Up Before You Look Down

Maybe you have been looking for something too.

Not a cross in India, but an answer.

Direction.

Healing.

Peace.

Purpose.

A breakthrough.

A second chance.

A reason to hope again.

You’ve searched, prayed, waited, and wondered whether anything is going to change.

Don’t give up just because you haven’t found it yet.

Sometimes what you’ve been searching for isn’t where you expected it to be.

Sometimes God puts treasure in unlikely places.

Sometimes the answer comes through someone who was simply running an errand.

Sometimes the thing everyone else overlooked is exactly what God wants you to see.

And sometimes, when you think you’re down to your last opportunity, God whispers, “Look again.”

That cross reminded me that God can take something lying among the scraps and turn it into a testimony.

Maybe He is doing the same thing with your story.

Romans 8:28 tells us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Notice Scripture doesn’t say all things are good.

Some things hurt.

Some things break.

Some things disappoint us.

Some things leave scars.

But God works in all things.

Even the scraps.

So, if your life feels scattered today, don’t assume God is finished.

If something looks discarded, don’t assume it cannot be redeemed.

If the clock appears to be running out, don’t assume God is late.

And if you’ve searched everywhere without finding what you hoped for, keep your eyes open.

The cross may be closer than you think.

Because the God who knows where every hidden treasure lies also knows exactly where you are.

And He is still faithful.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for being faithful in the big things and in the smallest details of our lives. Thank You that when we cannot see the answer, You already know where it is. When we feel forgotten, You still see us. When life leaves us feeling broken or discarded, remind us that our circumstances never determine our value or identity. Teach us to trust Your timing when we are down to the last day and to keep believing when everything appears impossible. Give us eyes to recognize the treasures You place in unexpected places. Take the scraps of our lives, the disappointments, failures, wounds, and unanswered questions, and redeem them for Your glory. Thank You for the cross, where Jesus demonstrated Your immeasurable love for us, and thank You for the Lion of Judah who has triumphed. Help us remember that the Savior who gave His life for us is also the King who reigns over every circumstance we face. May our lives become stories of Your faithfulness that we can share with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.