11.22.9 "I'm Lost!!"

"I'm Lost!!"

Ezekiel 44:1-45:12
I Peter 1:1-13
Psalm 119:17-35
Proverbs 28:8-10

When you were a kid do you remember watching ants? When they would find food, they would somehow communicate with one another and soon there would be a line of them bringing food back home. In the animated movie, "A Bug's Life" one of the first scenes of the movie was depicting this. The ants were walking one behind the other bringing food back to the nest. Tragedy strikes when a leaf lands in the middle of the line, blocking the way for those following. The ant next to the leaf yells in complete despair, "I'm lost!" Yes, it loses some (or all) of it's humor in the translation, but what makes it so funny is that it's just a leaf, and all he needs to do is walk around it. Easy to see from our perspective.

Psalm 119:19 says, "I am but a pilgrim here on earth: how I need a map - and your commands are my chart and guide." The ant in the movie was lost as soon as the path was blocked. How many times do we or someone we we know of are completely lost when an obstacle comes up. What's the right thing to do? How should I respond? Where am I going?

The answer is found in knowing God's Word. verse 20 says, "I long for your instructions more than I can tell." We don't even realize how much we need to be empowered through the Word. If we don't have the word, we are starving ourselves. We are dangerously walking in uncharted paths.

The word gives us counsel "Your laws are both my light and my counselors." vs. 24. So many people want to "talk through" their trials when the "leaf" blocks their path instead of getting into the Word. Sometimes they don't even want to know what the Word says because it's not what they want to hear. We must allow the Word to guide us.

Verse 25 says, "I am completely discouraged - I lie in the dust. Revive me by your Word." When discouragement comes for some reason, the Word is the last place people look for strength, but it is the only source of lasting strength.

Grieving? verse 28 says, "I weep with grief; my heart is heavy with sorrow; encourage and cheer me with your words."

I "lovingly" refer to discipleship as the "ministry of damage control". Often Jesus taught others by redirecting those who've strayed off the path. Many times people have come with problems and trials that are a direct result of straying away from the path God has laid out. Think of the trouble that could be averted by staying in the path of the Word.

"Keep me far from every wrong. Help me, undeserving as I am, to obey your laws, for I have chosen to do right. I cling to your commands and follow them as closely as I can. Lord, don't let me make a mess of things. If you will only help me to want your will, then I will follow your laws even more closely. Just tell me what to do and i will do it, Lord. As long as I live I'll wholeheartedly obey. Make me walk along the right paths for I know how delightful they really are." Ps 119:29-35

Why do we forget that Biblical Training REALLY Empowers us? Why are we so surprised when we are weak from not being in the Word. We laugh (I may be laughing alone) at the ant who is in such despair over a leaf because we can see the big picture. We see that it's not really that big of deal. I'm sure at times God would want to laugh (or at least get frustrated) at his people who drop everything and cry in despair over a leaf that blows in the path. We forget HE has the perspective to know it's just a leaf. The path is marked in his word. He wants to equip and empower us. Get into the Word today!


Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


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