Few people enjoy the sense of “lostness.”
One researcher took volunteers to Germany, strapped a GPS to them, and told them to walk a straight line without help through the Bienwald Forest. The clouds blocked out the sun, and people started wandering in circles because they had nothing to anchor them.
When that happens, we grow afraid.
Michael Bond puts it this way:
Children lost in the woods is a common a motif in modern fairy tales and in ancient mythology. Usually in fiction there is some kind of redemption: Snow White is rescued by dwarfs and even Hansel and Gretel, facing certain doom in the gingerbread house, find their way home. Reality is often more grim: During the 18th and 19th centuries, getting lost was one of the most common causes of death among the children of European settlers in the North American wilderness.
No wonder we look for something when lost!
Jesus knew man’s ability to get lost. They wander from what is reliable to something more compelling yet harmful. When he came to the world, he had a simple mission. It caused him to ignore many and focus on a few.
He knew why he came:
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”” (Luke 19:10)
Are you lost? It’s not comforting. What is needed is to find someone who can help you find the way.
Are you that helper?
-Robert G. Taylor-
