“Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3

Henry David Thoreau once said, “Not until we are lost, do we begin to understand ourselves.” I’m sure we have all felt lost in life. We can feel lost from losing a loved-one, losing our confidence, losing a job, and/or losing relationships. We can even feel lost in our faith.

I felt terrifyingly lost after I graduated college. I started college with the intention of being an elementary teacher. Toward the end of my college career, I realized that I didn’t want to pursue education. At that point, it was too late to switch degrees. So here I was, a college graduate with no plan; extremely lost.

God calls us to be sheep in His pasture. He reminds us that “we are his.” After all, He is our Shepherd. He is someone who tends and looks after His creation (us). Throughout the Bible, He tells us to not be afraid and to put our trust in Him. When you feel lost in life, that is hard to do. He also reminds us to have faith: faith that we are not lost, faith that God has plans for us.

After I graduated from Luther College, I worked in a variety of jobs trying to figure out what I wanted to do as a career. I finally found a really great job, but it was only a temporary position. Once that was over, I was lost again. I had lost my confidence, my faith, my job, and even some relationships. Then God led me here, to Bethel.

Being lost isn’t always a bad thing. It just means that God has other plans for you. After all, “we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” He has plans for all of us.

Prayer: O Shepherd, thank You for reminding us that we are Your sheep and that You will find us when we are lost. Help us to remember that you have plans for us and that we are not alone. Comfort and guide us when we feel lost. Amen.