Like Trying to Find a Needle in a Haystack!

The phrase “like trying to find a needle in a haystack” has its origin well over 400 years ago. The first time a saying similar to this is recorded, was in 1532 when Thomas More used it in reference to finding a particular phrase in writings, saying: “To seek out one line in his books would be to go look (for) a needle in a meadow.”

The saying certainly stuck, and has been used throughout history as an idiom meaning something extremely difficult or nearly impossible to find. If you have lost something, it may not really be in a haystack, but finding it may seem just as difficult. At times however, if you do happen to have a haystack around, like we do on our farm, it may be just the place that a lost item needs to be found.

A few years ago, while taking a night hike with the family, we found ourselves reclining on a group of large round bales of hay in our upper field. While lying there, we marveled at the beautiful night sky filled with stars before continuing around a trail and on to our cabin. Just before arriving, Rhonda anxiously exclaimed that her wedding and engagement rings were missing! She knew they were there before the hike, but were now gone.

Knowing that we had spent most of our time on the haystacks, I went with flashlight in hand on a search. To my amazement, there, nestled down a few inches in the hay were the tiny shiny objects! While rings in a haystack may not be as difficult as a needle, we were overjoyed at the discovery.

A few years later, a less expensive object was lost in the round hay bales near our barns. Several of our children and grandchildren had been leaping and jumping on the bales and a John Deere cowboy boot had disappeared. When evening arrived, a search ensued. The bales were dug through and scoured with no luck. Finally, after hours of searching, buried beneath a pile that was set to feed the cows, I found the unlucky, but unscathed boot. Gideon, the one boot grandson, now had the boot twin and could rest for the night.

A few day ago, the third hay stack find was discovered. Upon baling hay last year, our friend Chris had placed his open pocket knife on his baler while fixing a string. Forgetting about the knife, he continued to bale and much to his dismay, the knife was gone. After a long search in the field, he decided that maybe it had gotten baled into one of the square bales. We had loaded seventy-five bales on our wagon and so the possibility of finding it was about the same as “finding a needle in a haystack.”

The hay was fed to various animals throughout the winter, and even though a reward was offered to anyone who found the heirloom gem, it was not discovered. At last, while working with the cows a few days ago, there laying half buried in the muddy hoof trounced hay, I found the shiny, still opened heirloom treasure that was lost last year. Sending a picture to Chris, he was excited to be reunited with his pocket Buck knife.

While the items I have found in haystacks, so to speak, have been exciting finds and at times valuable, they in no way compare to the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:4, where the shepherd left the ninety-nine sheep to find the one that was lost, or Luke 15:8 where the woman sought diligently for one lost coin. In those parables, the lost items are referring to man's soul and the kingdom of heaven. When those are found, it is far more than a little excitement from a ring, boot or knife recovery. It is eternal, and a time for great rejoicing, for that which was lost has now been found!

~Mark