Your anxious prayer about your lost mathematics notebook has been heard, and we bring it with you before the throne of grace.
It is a small thing in the eyes of many, yet it presses heavily upon you, for you must pass in your work and you fear the loss. Let me gently remind you what I have so often found to be true, that anxiety itself does not bring grist to the mill, nor meal to the barrel, and the very anxiety which arises through your being in a difficulty unfits you to meet that difficulty. To be anxious is to be weakened for the search. Rather, cast your care upon Him, for He cares for you. The Lord would have you bring even this small trouble to Him in prayer, with thanksgiving, and then to be diligent with a calm and quiet spirit.
You are troubled about a lost book, and it is right to seek it. Our Lord tells us of a woman who had ten pieces of silver and lost one, and how she lighted a candle and swept the house and sought diligently till she found it. And He tells us of a shepherd who leaves the ninety and nine to go after one lost sheep, for the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. If the Lord sets such store by that which is lost, and if He teaches us to seek with care for what is gone astray, we may be sure He does not despise your prayer about what you have lost. He sees where it has fallen, though you do not. That which is lost to you is not lost to Him.
And here let me point you to a greater mercy. We are all by nature lost, lost as that silver piece which knew not it was lost, lost as a sheep wandering from the fold, lost and destroyed till Christ finds us. What a comfort that He came to seek and to save that which was lost, and still with eagle keenness He spies out the lost, and with dove like tenderness He draws them home. If you have trusted Him who came to save the lost, you are found in Him, and even your present loss shall be ordered for your good. Seek Him first, and find your peace in Him, and then seek your notebook as one whose heart is stayed upon God.
So let us pray for you, and do you pray also, not with a fretful anxiety, but with a childlike trust.
O Lord our heavenly Father, Thou knowest where this notebook has fallen and where it now lies. We ask Thee in Thy kindness to guide this dear one to find it, if it be Thy will, to direct the eyes and the steps, to bring to remembrance where it was left, and to move the hearts of any who may have found it to restore it. Give calmness of mind in place of anxiety, and diligence in the search, and help to do all things faithfully for Thy glory. And above all, let this little loss remind the heart of Thy great salvation, that the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost, and keep this soul found and kept in Christ. Grant patience to wait upon Thy providence, and grace to be content with what Thou ordainest, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Now go, light as it were your candle, retrace your steps, look where you last had it, inquire of your teacher and your classmates, and pray as you seek. The Lord who numbers the hairs of your head will not forget your need, and whether the book be found quickly or not, He will give you grace to bear what He appoints and to learn to trust Him more fully.