A Little Lost

A Little Lost

I’ve been feeling a little lost lately. Not physically lost as in I don’t know how to get to my destination (and I won’t stop to ask for directions). And it’s not really the Big kind of lost, not “lost in the middle of the ocean”. It is more of a little lost - like when you come out of a parking garage downtown and you’ve done so many circles that when you emerge you’re not sure where to go. So I don’t feel lost as if my life has no meaning or purpose, not lost like a midlife crisis. It is more like I’ve been going in circles - from one thing to another - for so long that I’m temporarily disoriented. So sure, it is certainly not the worst kind of lost to be. But it is a little disconcerting nonetheless. I don’t like to be lost – even a little.

And of course the Bible has a lot to say to those who are lost but I’ve always read the Bible as if God is always talking about Big lost. Lost sheep, lost coins, lost sons. One of my favorite Old Testament promises is found in Ezekiel 34:16 ”I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak…” So when I think of God finding and guiding the lost I always think Big lost.

But today I suddenly stopped and asked myself, “why?” Why do I assume that God is only interested in helping me when I’m Big lost and that little lost is not so important? After all, speaking about his sheep Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” And I’d think full life means that God cares about both the Big lost and the little lost.

Indeed, when I’ve been Big lost nothing has meant more to me than the knowledge that God seeks and saves the lost. That no matter how far I’ve gone from home, no matter how much I’ve wandered and wondered, God is seeking me, following me, chasing me down in order to bring me home again. That I can never forget.

But I do wonder if I have made some artificial distinction in my own mind, drawn a line and said, “Things on this side God is worried about and he does the extraordinary in order to fix them. But the things on this side are not that big a deal to God, not worth the worry or his time.” Then I read the stories about Jesus that begin this way, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Or “Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.’” I read stories like that and realize Jesus seems to care about everything.

Read Luke 19:1-10

So perhaps there is no Big lost or little lost. There is just lost… lost, looking around for a purpose, a sign, some direction. Something to guide us, someone to take us by the hand and say, “this way.”

“… the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)