Describing someone without God as “lost” is maybe the most common way to phrase it. People without God are adrift and aimless, without a clear direction or guidance to help them navigate the troubles of life. Lost people are lost because they are in a proverbial wilderness, with no way of escaping (on their own), and no appreciation for the dangers closing in all around them. In the Old Testament, God often spoke of His own people, whenever they fell into sin, as a nation searching but never finding, wandering but never arriving, and wanting but never possessing. Whenever the nation turned away from God, troubles always abounded. Why? Put simply, they were lost without God.
As are we all.
Hosea wrote these words about his nation that had become lost without God, and the punishment coming to them…
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
(Hosea 2:6)
Israel is predicted to become a people with a hedge wall around their land, riddled with thorns and twisted so that they will not be able to find their path. God vows to erect a maze of despair that will grow around them. As a result, no matter how much they search, they will not find their way out.
Why does God say this? Why will God do this? Doesn’t He want the lost to find their way out of sin? Yes, He does, but the trouble with Israel is they don’t want to turn to God to find that way out. Notice that God promises a wall will be built around them…not a roof. If you try to go side to side, if you try to find your answers here and there, if you look around the world for a way out of your trouble, you will only ever hit a brick wall. If, however, you look up, the solution will present itself. Israel will not be able to look around, but they can still look up, and when they do, they will find God.
Are you aimless? Don’t try looking around. You won’t find the way out of life’s maze that way. You’ll only find wall upon wall. If you need to get out of your mess, don’t look around; look up.
~Matthew