Ever felt lost? I’m not trying to pull off some pithy spiritual innuendo here – I’m asking if you have ever literally been lost? I certainly have. In late 2019 I had just landed on a return flight home from Seattle, WA. I was in a hurry when departing a few days prior, and consequently did not remember where I had parked. I was hauling my own luggage and some work items without a cart. The time was almost 2AM, and I honestly thought my truck might have been towed. I was also completely alone. I was lost.

I will never again leave my vehicle anywhere without capturing the extremely helpful number and letter combo to serve as a reminder of where to go. See, had I simply remembered “4B,” then my journey that evening would have been much less taxing. Life is a lot like this situation. Sometimes we’re hurried, often we are negligent (of commitments, relationships, ourselves, etc.), and it can quickly become easy to miss the smallest but most important details. For Christ followers, it is of integral importance to remember that the Word gives us literal and direct instruction on how to navigate life on this side of heaven. The Christ follower’s job is to hide the Word away in his or her heart; it is easy to miss this crucial element of faith in the normal busyness of life.

Here’s a few learnings (from God’s grace and mostly my failures) that help me not to feel lost on my spiritual journey:

Always be ready to fight | I’ll never forget being at a middle-school dance and being threatened by a guy (who could have easily eaten me for lunch, and I was no small dude) who thought I was trying to make a move on his girl. This dude simply confronted me about this situation (which had no validity, by the way) and capped off his rage with the statement, “I’m not afraid to fight.” Sitting in my cowardice in that moment, my only response was, “I don’t want to fight.” God was protecting me because he could have beat me to a pulp and it would have been embarrassing (HA!). My mom was chaperoning, and I remember going over to her holding back tears demanding to leave immediately. We did leave, and it wasn’t a huge scene, but I felt defeated and puny. Moral of this story is, I wasn’t ready to fight, and I would’ve been easily beaten. The fight against sin is real, and if you’re not equipped (Ephesians 6:13) by the Word of God then you will be left feeling squashed, defeated, embarrassed, and beaten to a pulp. Know God, and know His Word. Don’t just read it, know it.

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

Let the Word read you |Discipline. It’s a word that has a bit of a negative stigma. I’m sure you remember the high-school principal that was the “disciplinarian” as someone who was not your friend. Here’s the thing: God plays that role better than anyone else. If you think the “friends” that only tell you what you want to hear and seek to always make you “feel good” are the ones that are loving you, then you’re severely misguided. God provides nothing but loving affirmation in His relentless pursuit of relationship with you, His abounding grace love and mercy for you, and in His rescue story that He has been writing for you since the beginning of time. One of the most loving things someone can do for you is to call you out on your inconsistencies and blind spots. God does this all throughout Scripture; He is quick to tell the children of Israel that they are acting like idiots (Exodus 32:7-8), Jesus teaches His disciples through parable (Luke 10:25-37), and the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin (2 Corinthians 3:17). Ask God to help you read His Word in a way that it reads you, and will point out the places where you are not experiencing His best for you. If you don’t invite the loving discipline of the Lord into your life, prepare to feel lost.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

Psalm 139:23-24

Trust that God will make it clear | Have you ever made something out to be harder than it needs to be? I am guilty of this in almost every respect. I’d argue even when approaching God’s Word I will often unnecessarily wrestle with the fear of misinterpreting something, or missing something. That’s okay. God can’t be figured out completely, or He wouldn’t be God. He can’t be put in a box. His Word is alive and active (Hebrews 4:12), and while inherent universal meaning resides within the Scripture and not in man’s interpretation, His brilliant design allows for it to have different application at different stages of spiritual maturity. For instance, this passage in 1 Peter has greatly ministered to me this year:

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Peter 1:3-8

Notice the linear progression here with faith being the foundational key. Upon establishing faith in God, a virtuous or morally excellent lifestyle is ascertainable.  Progressively self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and Christ-like love are all products of practicing the outlined prescription for a Godly lifestyle and ultimate call to love others without a return policy. If I am not practicing one of these things with excellence, then this passage provides a clear outline for me to work backwards to identify where I am being inconsistent. Identifying my own inconsistency allows me to recognize where I am being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ. God brings order into chaos (1 Corinthians 14:33, Genesis 1:1-4), and His Word provides clarity and direction when lost.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”

Proverbs 3:5-8

I was lost at the airport that night because I failed to remember something incredibly simple, yet critically important. I beg the question to you; have you ever felt lost? Odds are that you have. Whether it’s addiction, toxic relationships, job loss, feelings of inadequacy, the list goes on… If you’ve felt lost, let me tell you how to find yourself and how to find life-indeed. Want to feel found and grounded? Then it is critically important that you not only read, but that you know God’s Word. This is how you are able to remember who God is. Want to experience life abundantly? Then know God’s Word, be in community with His people, and a part of a local church body where you can serve Him selflessly.

Preston Scott Swiggart – thank you, brother for being a good coach that challenges me to be ready for the fight. Thank you for diving into God’s Word with me and for seeking to understand me and help me understand myself and my relationship with Jesus. Thank you for clearly being an answer to many years of prayer for an authentic, consistent, God-honoring (those three things, that’s exactly who you are) brother in the faith. Thank you will never be enough for being the brother that has pushed and challenged me to be fully found in my relationship with our God and Father. You are a class act, and I walk closer with Jesus because I’ve seen you pursue Him so well. NRx3. 1 Thessalonians 2:8