Sometimes We Can Lose Our Way
Sheree Morris
Sometimes we can lose our way and not always realise this has happened because everything around us somehow still feels familiar.
So often life is a bit like that. Things just get in the way of us and before we know it, we find that we have lost our bearings, are vastly off balance and can become stuck in a spiral.
Sometimes it feels like you can’t seem to get out the quicksand and as much as you try to raise your head and gasp for breath, before you know it you are pulled back down - struggling to see who you are, struggling to find hope, and struggling to know to whom you belong.
How do we find our way again?
The answer, even in the midst of our despair, is to find our hope in God and in His promises. Our help comes from Him.
He is the one who gives us hope that we have only lost our way temporarily, that we will get through the quagmire, that He is in fact breathing for us, whilst we feel that we are drowning.
‘Do not fear anything, for I am with you: Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, be assured, I will help you.’
Isaiah 41:10 (AMP)My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
(Psalm 121:2)
We are not created to do life on our own. Sometimes, when we are so far off track, we may not even recognise that we are indeed lost, and sometimes it takes others to show us.
That is why being planted and rooted in a church family is so vitally important. We were never meant to travel an isolated road. God uses those around us to steer us - at the point that we may not even know we are lost. No one gets lost on purpose or sets out to veer off the road.
Personally I have been struggling with a lot of things recently. A few months ago, I went to a very joyous event but I was finding it hard to hold things together as the last song was sung.
Someone sitting behind me saw my struggle and gently placed their hand upon me to pray. I felt like I was being physically touched by God Himself. Then another right beside me, took my hand and held me, and I held on really, really tightly.
As I was held, I was reminded of Psalm 139: 5 ‘You have enclosed me behind and before, and you have placed Your hand upon me.’
I knew that God was with me on my journey, but He knew something I didn’t quite realise at the time, and that was that I also needed people around me. He was working through the very people I knew, loved and trusted.
We don’t have to travel our difficult journeys alone!
I can honestly say throughout that God has been very faithful to me and used other people in church to minister to me. He particularly wanted me to know that although I felt lost, I was still very much loved and held by Him.
Struggles are very real and are often hard but He brought me just the help that Psalm 121 speaks about through others.
We so need the body of Christ, all our different parts, all coming together to walk with us, to hold us when we need holding and to encourage us along when we find ourselves lost.
What an amazing and faithful God we have, He knows exactly what we need, when we need it and He is always with us, helping us on whatever road our journeys take us!
