Day 4007 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Isaiah 2:22 NIV

For where can the lost lead?

And indeed, though we are millions who say it not so, the truth is that we’ve none of us any idea as to where to go. Don’t often know what to do. Generally assume that all in life and of itself is nothing we’ve ever to lose as rather we live as if life’s not even a gift but instead a dread of the dead who dared to do what few try to anymore. A few which in truth seem only to prove that the more you lose the more you learn of what life was always meant to be and that because to lay something down is to trust that it shall either be taken back up or was never needed anyway.

But sadly this is not our way for in this life there comes no day in which we say that it’s okay to lay down what we’ve known of life and walk away unto the Way who came to save from what we’d became having chosen to trust in ourselves so long ago.

So long in fact that it’s left us living so fast that it’s only inevitable that we get lost and there lose our lives or at least our sight of what might have been the reason for our having been given this chance to live them for more than we have been as has been limited by our abilities, our perspectives, our priorities. Because when it’s only us who we trust to know the way, we’re then barricaded a million miles from better by the billions of ideas we’ll never have and thus hopes we’ll never know we never knew.

And yet we continue to be those we look to, lean on, learn from?

Why?

Because we look alike.

Because we sound the same.

Because we know the trust taught of our own thoughts and therein assume within those of those around us a similar trust perhaps able to thrust all of us toward that ever better that everyone seems always able to imagine for those around them, even though yet oddly enough not ever themselves. That is a strange thing, is it not? That the pride of man, of which we place so much trust within, it’s always heard singing the same song of how a life’s gone so very well that there’s no need of any well from which to draw any degree of better design as it knows no wrong.

Rather every single life is likely being lived by someone who all but stopped living a long time ago at that place in which they chose to look up, say they’d seen enough and gave themselves unto this idea that our enough is enough. That our good is as good as we think it is. That our best is the best we can ever hope to be. That hope itself is something best left for our eyes to see, and thus only ever the sum of things that can be seen.

A lie which seems to mean that there’s nothing of hope outside of ourselves.

Or again, at least that’s the story that sells unto we who are but the masses always amazed and thus willing to buy whatever the lie we may need to continue in this deed of a life signed away unto living every single day as if it’s truly okay for us to continue to trust in only mere humans, ourselves or others.

Something we want to be true because we’ve all given our everyday we’ve ever lived unto assuming the same. And, well, at this point we just can’t bear the thought that we’d be wrong.

Let alone about what best to do with this life we lead.

Do we lead it though? Or does is more often lead us? Wouldn’t we be better off if we did agree that life should lead? That our each and every day is best left to whatever, wherever that day leads? Can we lead when the past proves we don’t know where to go as all we do know is how to do wrong? Will three wrongs make a right or just triple up on the mistake?

Can we be the ones to lead the way when all our ego cares to say is that we make no mistakes?

What’s there to learn if we get everything right?

Why dare to trust in any of us who’ve the audacity to say that they get anything right, something none of us do and yet all of us do? For we all say that we do get things right and in this avoid mistake. And so too do all of us trust in us even though we know that to be a bold-faced lie. For all of us know deep down that we’ve made mistakes in life. And that’s because we’ve all felt such stings as regret and guilt and shame. And, though it a rarity to be sure seeing as how the masses make it seem that judgement isn’t kind and thus nothing we need, I think we all know that everyone else gets things wrong too.

For as much as we may share looks and loves, there’s another truth that we share sent down from up above.

And that is that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

We don’t talk about that much though as, well, no, it’s not a fun thought to think. Not a witty line we like to pull out to get the party laughing or the joint jumping or whatever else we do down here trying not to hear the sound of fear calling our name from that place into which we’ve been called by He who carried our cross and proved with it the necessity of a life lived wrong being a life then lost.

Something we all know plenty about despite our pride claiming otherwise.

For indeed, all of us have known what it is to be lost, confused, uncertain, unsure, untrue even. Indeed, we’ve all lied, twisted the facts, cooked the books and all but broke our backs trying to carry all these stories we’ve spent our lives writing trying to prove ourselves worthy of being those who lead the way.

And not only for ourselves alone.

No, anymore one of the chief ideals for every life being lived is this idea that without us the rest are dead. For we are the ones who know the way to do everything. We’re the sources of the secrets to six-second abs and the makers of millions of fans and followers who give us dollars and devotions as we divulge the directions to a life lived of such inventions as robotic cars driving us to work and working for ourselves as other bosses are jerks.

Yes, we know the way to make all of life better, insisting then that our existence is one best spent as leader rather than follower as why follow anyone else when it’s we ourselves who have it all figured out? We don’t need any more help. Don’t need any more hope. Rather we claim that we’ve all but already arrived at that way of life that’s going so well that we’re not only justified in our ego continuing to swell but we’d be doing the world as a whole an utter disservice if we didn’t teach others how to serve themselves too.

Something we all want to do anyway.

Making it even stranger as to why we still place so much trust in strangers. For if it’s always us alone who know what’s best alone for both us and everyone, then why look to anyone else ever? Why listen to any other ideas or input? Why read books or watch tv or pay for some subscription to a magazine or streaming service?

Oh yeah, again we do but we don’t.

For sure, we read books but often only ourselves into them. We watch tv but only often a repeat of whatever we already know or are fairly certain we’ll like. We buy the subscriptions for the same reasons and need the streaming to keep from screaming as life lived outside our comfort and complacency is both boring and increasingly scary.

Just yesterday I thought I was going to lose my mind as I found myself with all this time on my hands having not felt all that great and convinced myself that I needed to slow it down, catch my breath and give my body a chance to heal from trying so hard here lately to get back to getting better.

Got so bored that I ended up jumping up and exercising anyway.

And, well, wouldn’t you know it but I now don’t feel much better today.

Why?

Because that’s my way. That’s our way. We’ve become a people who are increasingly insistent that we have to prove daily persistent unto the many varied pursuits and priorities that we’re all but absolutely certain we’ve so properly placed that we cannot afford a moment’s waste unto not doing something to keep them going. As if it all depends on us! Because we love feeling that sense of trust that we place in ourselves, love it so very much that we’ve placed amongst our priorities this ongoing need for others to trust in us too.

And, well, seems there’s always plenty willing to. Indeed, our society has become one of friends and followings, each of us existing as if platforms are our purpose. And so now we awake only excited to share the newest secret we’ve learned about how not to burn in the sun or overcook our sticky buns in the oven that most of us don’t have any idea how to use having never learned to cook for ourselves in what is a world that tells of all this convenience that sells us the ease we need with a side of having then to trust in others to not let us down, lead us wrong, make us sick or sing some song in another language we don’t understand but are more than happy to trust is on the up and up.

What if it isn’t?

What if they can’t?

What if we shouldn’t?

Shouldn’t what?

Trust in people. People like even us. All because all people, even us, we’re all entirely prone to getting things wrong and, well, seems today what’s the end of a now longer past proven to have found us lost and mistaken more times than we dare remember as we still cannot manage to imagine that we’ve been that mistaken. For instead of the truth all we’ve all learned to say is that we know the way. That we’re going okay, better than okay actually.

Indeed, whenever you’re out and about today, ask someone how they’re doing and I’d bet that one of the most common responses you’ll probably to get is, “doing good, how are you?”

Because we all seem only to know to avoid the truth as, well, it’s often entirely too heavy to cram into a quick conversation. That and we’ve got so many other things we’d like to say if given the chance.

Again, have you heard the latest trick to six-second abs?

It’s truly amazing to me the things we waste our breath on. But, then again, as even this verse points out that’s pretty much all we have anyway. For man, as touted here, has but breath in their lungs. Elsewhere the Bible says that so too have we each only deceit in our hearts. Lies on our lips. Lust in our minds. Indeed, pretty much right from the start our way’s been falling apart in that only six books in and we find this jewel which undeniably proves that people aren’t who we should trust:

“The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” Genesis 6:5

And yet it’s still those very thoughts and inclinations that remain the substance of basically our every assumption of what best to follow, to lean on, to learn from.

Why?

Because we’re a people who’ve bought into this idea that it’s better to let another lead us as then they’d be the ones who are blamed should ever anything go wrong. That it’s safe to trust in those who look like us as they probably think like us and thus have only our best in mind. That it’s only loving when we let another lead the way as placing our lives, our growth, our hope into their hands proves that we’re willing to believe in their having our best in mind, in heart.

But again, friends, what if they don’t?

I mean, looking back I can see so many times in which I even trusted myself only to now see a whole bunch of times in which I shouldn’t have as I only failed at whatever it was that I trusted myself to ensure went right. I’ve made so many mistakes in my life, why then would I ever believe that I could ever manage to never make another? And, well, being brutally honest here, but why should we ever trust another when most folks here don’t even have the courage to admit their confusions?

Can we really trust people who start off by blatantly lying about the lives they’re living by their saying that they’re getting everything right? Can we truly believe that anyone is getting much of anything right considering how much wrong is happening in a world getting worse?

Friends, it’s us who led the way here!

We’re the ones who chose for this to be the outcome. Not that it is the outcome as we’re all still here and thus still have time to learn and grow and thus come to know of the better that we can all so obviously be. But one of our world’s newfound ideals is this idea that quitting is somehow best. As if we’ve honestly come to become convinced that what we see, that what we hear, that what we are is truly as good as it gets.

Is it?

Or have we led ourselves so amazingly astray that, though we don’t really like it this way, we’re kind of set in this way of trusting in us to lead the way and it’s us who doesn’t really want to deal with having to go anywhere else or figure anything else out?

We love to give up.

Why then look to us?

Why trust in people who we know are prone to such pastimes as pride and opinion? Why put so much hope inside those who see, hopefully, so much room for personal and societal growth but only meet it with yet another, “nope, not worth it”? After all, isn’t that pretty much what we say all but every single day whenever we’re faced with the choice between hardship and convenience? We’re a people so preferential of comfort that we readily discount basically anything we have to all that we don’t have to do anything we just don’t want to.

And we know this.

And so, again, why trust us?

We know that life here has devolved into one of greed, of gluttony, of laziness and lustfulness progressing leaps and bounds as we all lay down and just watch it fall apart. I can’t even begin to count the ways that life in this place is worse off today than it was even 10 years ago. And yet at the same time there are thousands, millions probably who probably think we’re far better off than we were back then simply because their phone has 3 cameras now.

Friends, I don’t understand us anymore. Not that I ever did, but we seem to only be increasing in our already overwhelming interest in doing nothing and becoming the same.

All we do anymore is fight, argue, buy stuff online, argue some more, go the store, buy more stuff we probably don’t need, grab something to eat as we head back home to spend the rest of the day and every single night glued to our phones again arguing with someone we don’t know about how they’re wrong and why we’re not.

Is that life?

It’s what we’ve been led toward. But is it truly what we want? Are we who we want to be? Is the world we’re in what we hoped it would become? Can we honestly still continue to agree to keep trying to see any reason to keep trusting in us to lead us to anything better whenever all but everything is getting worse?

Why do we even want to lead? Better yet, why do we want anyone else to? Do we honestly believe that people can know what’s best? Do we truly trust anyone, even us, with finding the very best for any of us? I’ve personally had all sorts of wonderful ideas that I was absolutely certain would turn out so amazing only to find them or feel them or elsewise achieve them and be left, once again, either fairly unimpressed or in such personal distress that I still can’t manage to shake the misery.

Indeed, I don’t even trust myself anymore, for why should I? I’m the ones who’s made all of my mistakes. I’m the one who caused all those times that my heart came to break. I’m the one still losing sleep sometimes thanks to nightmares of dreams gone dead into a horror show that I can’t seem to figure out how to get away from.

And that’s all just me!

I know I’m really good at getting lost. Like really good! And yet I also just so happen to trust that part of His truth that again says that all have fallen short. Granted, doesn’t mean that there hasn’t since been some improvement and I truly pray there has as salvation and sanctification share that purpose and point.

But my point is that we’ve all proven that we’re at times deluded if not determined to be. Why then should we look to any of us to lead? Because again, if all of us have gotten lost thinking we were headed in the right direction, what’s to say we’re not wrong again? What’s to say we’re not getting lost again? And if we are so good at getting lost, and probably not knowing we are, why should we ever trust that we’ll somehow forget how to?

Friends, I think that’s pretty much all we know how to do.

That kind of seems why Jesus came to leave that way. It wasn’t to leave us thinking that we could figure it out! Seems more to say that our way is so stinking broken that the only best thing to do with it is beat it to death and run as far away from it as fast as we possibly can.

Even into the grave all so that nothing of all we were is able to survive.

I don’t know, but it just seems to me that His having taken on the sinful flesh only to leave it in the grave kind of makes it look like the flesh knows only to lead us to the same. And sure, there seem a great and growing many here who are fine with that as, well, yeah, we’re not there yet and so we might never get there. But I personally contend that shame and regret are close enough to death for me. I definitely don’t want to feel those things for all of forever.

And so I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully trust in myself nor another. Not because we’re not any of us trying to do better. Again I hope we have been trying and truly believe many are fighting to improve. But I just know our tendency toward that way of life that we all need to continue to lose.

Just be careful how much trust you place in us. Not because we’re not here to love, but because true love doesn’t look to get lost, and yet lost is something all of us have been and in some ways still are.

But friends, that’s the point!

Where can the lost lead?

#LeaveNoSoulUntold