Leaving the Ninety-Nine
(Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash )
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?
Luke 15:4 NLT
My Beautiful Child,
When it comes to your prodigal, it may be tempting to blame Me for not acting on your timetable. But that's because you forget that I am God and you are not. My timing is always best for reasons you cannot entirely comprehend. I can understand why you want to know. It's your nature to want to have that control. Letting it go is painful and unnatural. But once you do, a freedom is found. The reason you can to let it go is that You know who I am. You know Me both as the Sovereign God and the Good Shepherd. You know I am God, and there is no one like Me. You know I am all-powerful and all-knowing. But you also know I will leave the ninety-nine sheep to look for the one who has strayed. I will go to any lengths to bring him or her back.
Some say this is a reckless love on My part because I have no thought for Myself. It's all about those I love. It's a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love. The ninety-nine sheep are in no danger, but the one who has wandered off is. So I sing songs of deliverance over him or her, I fight for him, I wait for her, and I search for them all. No matter how many times one of my sheep wanders off, I will always accept them back with open arms. I will still go out and look for them and treat them tenderly when I find them. I will always rejoice when they have been found. Whether it's you who wanders away for a short time to go down a path of resistance or self-righteousness or some other reason, or it's your prodigal who has strayed farther and deeper into the world, I remain the same. My love is the same; it's all-consuming, relentless, and everlasting. It's for you, and it's for the lost!
All My love,
Father God
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind.
Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice
but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful,
and endures through every circumstance.