Have you ever felt so far away from God that it feels as if there’s no turning back? Maybe you’ve had nights of conviction and you want to run back to Jesus, but the more you try, the farther away you feel. This can happen whether you consider yourself a devout Christian or not, and to be honest it is something I have experienced personally.
It’s easy to talk the talk, read the verse of the day, go to church and serve on a Sunday feeling like you’ve got it all figured out… but have you ever thought that maybe God cares more about the condition of your soul than the positions in your church? This isn’t just something we can fake our way through, and maybe Jesus is not as far away as you think he is.
Matthew 18:12-14, a scripture that you may have heard many times before says this: "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which has not gone astray. “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”
Let’s talk about this for a second. This scripture is a parable, which is a beautiful way that God teaches us by relating the heavenly realm to things comprehendible on this earth. We cannot take this scripture literally because unfortunately, this isn’t how our modern day society works. We live in a “majority rules” kind of world, we’re always looking for things bigger and better than what’s right in front of us. If we lose one part of what we have plenty of we may be a little disappointed, but we won’t abandon the majority of what we have to save that one missing piece. Why? Because we are human- but God is not.
He is all about the details and he moves in every moment. God understands the importance of what is unseen because he knows that sometimes big things in our life will not come to pass in less the little things are in order first. He will leave the masses to win your heart. That’s how much he cares.
Maybe you’ve never experienced this kind of love in the flesh, so it’s hard for you to believe that an invisible spirit wants to extend this reckless love to you. How are you supposed to receive this? You have to let your guard down. You have to put your logic and reality to the side and realize God is not of this world. This kind of love makes no sense! Why would he leave the 99 loyal followers for me? Someone who is on the fence and ruled by temptation, barely surviving the day today.
He is a God of the unseen, and I believe he is leaving the 99 for you because he sees something in you that you don’t yet see for yourself. When God created you, there was purpose in his hands. He is so proud of what he instilled in you, every talent, passion, dream, and accomplishment in you was divinely appointed and no mistake. Whether you feel close to God or not, his purpose has not left you. He is never going to go back on his word because he never makes a promise he can’t keep.
There is a promise in your life that he will fulfill his purpose for you. Maybe that’s why he is so close to you even when you can’t feel it, maybe that’s why he left the 99. He is chasing you down because he needs you to see your purpose and believe it will come to pass.
So here we are, you read all the way through and maybe nothing has changed in your heart. That’s okay. It’s not my words that are going to bring you back to Jesus, it’s his word.
Open up your bible with expectancy, put on worship music and start having a conversation with your creator, believe that no matter what your worst moment has looked like God sees you at your best and he is determined to lead you to your purpose. Why? Because he loves you that much. He’s the one who never leaves the one behind.
