Of course, we all have that one pan we use for cooking or deep frying.
At our place, we had a certain pan specifically for deep frying. One day, we needed it, but we couldn’t find it anywhere.
We searched and searched, but wapi!
Eventually, we reached the point where we simply concluded, “Hii imepotea.”
But then again, something that big couldn’t just disappear, right?
Someone suggested that maybe it had been stolen because there had been people stealing things around the area.
And just like that, we convinced ourselves that the pan was either lost or stolen.
End of story.
Or so we thought.
Fast forward to the following week.
I was doing my house chores when I noticed a particular place that had been dirty for quite some time. I told myself, “Since tomorrow I’m not busy, I’ll clean this place properly.”
The next day, I actually did.
And guess what I found?
The pan.
THE PAN!
I just laughed.
After all the searching, all the theories, and all the conclusions we had made, the pan had been there all along.
We just hadn’t looked there.
And honestly, that little pan taught me something much bigger about our lives.
Sometimes, we do the same thing.
We convince ourselves that something is impossible.
We convince ourselves that we’ve lost something forever.
We convince ourselves that we are not good enough.
We convince ourselves that we can never change.
We convince ourselves that certain things are simply “not for us.”
And sometimes, we make these conclusions without ever looking beyond what is familiar.
The Bible speaks about the transformation that comes through the renewing of our minds in Romans 12:2.
That day, when I decided to clean a place I had been neglecting, I found what we had been looking for all along.
And I couldn’t help but wonder;
What if the “pan” you’ve been looking for is actually in an area of your life you’ve been avoiding?
Maybe it’s healing.
Maybe it’s purpose.
Maybe it’s forgiveness.
Maybe it’s discipline.
Maybe it’s your relationship with God.
Maybe it’s a dream you stopped believing in.
Maybe it’s a part of yourself you stopped paying attention to.
Sometimes, we have to be willing to enter those uncomfortable places and allow God to work there.
We don’t have to do the cleaning alone.
We can invite God into the places we’ve neglected. We can allow Him to reveal what needs to be dealt with, transform our minds, heal our hearts, and restore what we thought was lost.
So perhaps today, ask yourself:
“What is the pan I’ve been looking for, and what area of my life have I been avoiding?”
Because maybe it isn’t lost.
Maybe you just haven’t looked there yet.
Story shared by Mercy Kaguta.