Tuesday December 9th: The Absence of God

He Loves us all Equally

Matthew 18:12-14

Let’s reflect on the 99. We are the sheep, and the man is God. The Gospel passage says God leaves the 99 ‘in search of’ the one sheep that strays. Have you ever felt the absence of God; the loss of God’s favour; that God has ‘left’ you? We are told that finding the one stray gives God ‘more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all.’

Have you ever thought that those around you who seem not to be following the way Jesus taught us to live and to love, seem to get God’s attention, while we stand in the sheepfold feeling God has abandoned us? You see, it is the finding of the strayed sheep that gives God joy; it is not that He takes delight in that one sheep and not the others. He is joyful that the one sheep does not remain lost, as it is never the Father’s will that even one of us would be lost and the reason is…. He loves us all equally!