I’d like to share with you a story. It’s not long, but its message is important. It’s about a shepherd and his flock of 100 sheep. One day, the shepherd is tending to his flock when one of the sheep: a lamb, wanders off and gets itself lost. The shepherd immediately goes out to find the lamb, leaving the 99 safe in their field. So the shepherd is searching and searching for the lost lamb. The search is hard but he does not give up; he is relentless in his search. He will not stop until that lamb is found and safe back in their field. And when he finally finds that lamb that he has been searching for. He embraces it and lovingly carries it back home.

The shepherd is my God and we are the sheep. The 99 are the Christians and the lamb might just be you. And you may feel lost right now. I want you to know that God sees the 99. He sees the Christians. He could just say “well I may have lost one sheep but I have 99 so I’ll just settle with them and leave that lamb alone in the forest”. But he doesn’t. He knows that the Christians are okay, that they are safe in that field, that they are safe because they know him. They are not the ones that are lost; they are not the ones that need saving. So he goes out to find that lost lamb because yeah he has 99 without it but he doesn’t care. He wants this lost lamb. He wants you. And if you are seeing this, this might be a sign. You might be lost in the forest not sure what to do. Maybe God has been waiting to give you that wake-up call. Maybe he is waiting for you to open your ears and hear him calling out to you.

Because you know what? Even when you feel that no one wants you, even when you feel that no one loves you, even if you feel that you could just disappear and no one would notice. You are wrong. God is always by your side, he is always loving you, and he notices. Even if you don’t know him and even if you don’t believe in him he still loves you. He still wants to know you. He believes in you wholeheartedly. And you may feel something right now that doesn’t feel good; he knows that. And if that is true he wants to come into your life more than ever right now because he wants you to feel better. He doesn’t want you to give up. God made all of us for a reason. He gave you life because he knows that you are destined for truly great things.

Stay strong and keep moving forward. You are important and you matter one hundred percent.