Lost!

Saturday night I couldn't help but wonder what one of the farmer's who first broke the ground on the South Plains would have thought if someone would have told them that one day people would pay money and then stand in line for thirty minutes for the chance to walk through a corn field. On Saturday night alone hundreds of people showed up at the Corn Maze outside of Lubbock to pay money and navigate their way through a maze cut into a corn field. Why would people pay money to walk through a corn field? Why would anyone knowingly enter a maze? The only reason I can figure out is the allure and excitement of being lost.

Now my personal opinion is that there is no possible way to actually get lost at the corn maze. Everyone who goes through knows that they will not actually be lost in the corn maze. But that knowledge does not prevent the inevitable from happening…practically everyone finds themselves muttering, "we're lost," at some point along the way. They have a map. They have a sheet of clues. There are other travelers on the path. There are workers watching over the maze. But everyone makes a wrong turn and gets lost at some point along the path. At some point everyone will come to a point when they don't know which way to turn.

In the corn maze that's fine – in fact, it is fun. But the sad reality is that many of the people you meet today are lost. They don't know which way to go. They don't know where to turn. And even though they have access to a map, clues, fellow travelers, and even workers along the path, they still find themselves hopelessly lost.

Maybe they are still having too much fun being lost to seriously consider needing to know how to navigate the maze of life successfully. Perhaps they continue to believe they can make it on their own without any help. Or maybe they can't understand how to read the map or have learned to not trust the people who try to point them in the right direction. Whatever the case, we, like all the generations prior to ours, live in a lost world.

I realized one thing while I was walking through the maze – if someone had been yelling at me that I was lost, it would not have helped me. The same is true in life's maze. Here's what will help: Help them understand the map. Walk with them to show them the path. Point them in the right direction and away from danger. Direct their attention to the one who knows the way out of the maze. Above all, patiently love them like Christ loved you. Oh, and don't forget to have fun along the way – a smile never hurts!

Life as I know it is about helping others successfully navigate their way through the maze to find the one who gives life...