1 versus 99

I believe it was a radio program I was listening a few weeks ago. maybe it was just a little 'thought for the day' break on the show. Whatever it was I was listening to, the speaker was talking about the parable of the lost sheep. (Matthew 18: 10-14, Luke 15: 1-7.) If you have ever attended church at some point you are probably familiar with this story that Jesus told. If you aren't familiar with it, here it is from Matthew 18: 1o-14:

"Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a shepherd had a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost."

As you are probably well aware, this is not the way the world works. The world is constantly telling us that we are don't measure up to everyone else. We are not as rich as other people, we are not as thin as other people, we are not as smart as other people, we are not as well off as other people, the list goes on and on. We also hear all the time that 'one person can't make a difference'. But this is not the way that God feels! God loves each one of us so much, that when we are lost or hurting or struggling He 'leaves the ninety-nine' and comes to find us! And when we come to Him, He rejoices!!

Now if you are like me, you have heard this parable so many times that maybe you don't really think about it when you hear it anymore. But there was something that the voice on the radio said when I heard it a couple weeks ago that really stuck with me. He asked if the listener had ever thought about the fact when they are in times of hurt or struggle that you (YES YOU!) might be the ONE thing that God is focussing on and thinking about at that moment! I'm probably not conveying it as well as the speaker did on the radio, but it really hit me! I don't think I had ever really about it before, that God cares about ME (you) so much that when I (you) are hurting or 'lost' God might solely be focussed on me (you). It's pretty awesome to think that the God of Heaven and earth cares about me so much that for a moment in time I might be the one thing on His mind. Wow!