Dear 100th Sheep,

You are the 100th Sheep for two reasons. The first is because you have left the fold and become so lost you cannot find your way back. Perhaps you do not understand the seriousness of your state. Maybe you do. Either way, you are in a lot of pain right now. 

You may not believe it, but the pain is a good thing. They say that leprosy in the Bible is a disease that makes it that a person cannot feel physical pain. Because of this, the person doesn’t know when he stubs a toe or burns his hand. She doesn’t know if she has a cut or whether she broke a finger. Over time, the body takes a beating and can’t keep up with the healing process. The body begins to rot and decay while the person is alive.

The fact that you feel pain is a good thing. I know it doesn’t feel like it, but it means that God is still with you; otherwise, you wouldn’t feel a thing. Ephesians 4 uses words like “hardness of heart” and “callous” for people who do wrong things but don’t feel any remorse. They are spiritual lepers who can’t feel any more.

One of the reasons you got yourself into such a mess is that you were trying to avoid pain. How did you try to medicate your pain? Was it through sexual thrills, drinking, drugs? There are a thousand ways people try to numb and run from pain. You know how you did. 

But now it is time to stop running and sit in the pain. The anguish you feel is a gift of God, and it burns for a reason, so you know something is terribly wrong. Without the pain, you might have stayed in sin. 

It also burns because the Spirit of God is a refining fire. (Psalm 66:10) The fire is either chastisement for life or judgment toward death. It is chastisement for you because you are a beloved son.

 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. Hebrews 12:5-10

It is judgment for those who refuse to repent and submit to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

God loves you though He isn’t pleased with your disobedience.

The second reason you are the 100th sheep is that Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd Himself, has left the 99 and sought you out. Just the fact that you are reading this article is evidence that God sought you out. You are precious to God, and He has not abandoned you. No matter how alone, how distraught, how rejected you feel, the truth is that God is with you. He came to find you and find you He did. 

Now it’s time to rest on His shoulders as He carries you back. It may be a long road back, but you are safe in His care, and He will see to it that all will be well. It’s time to trust as you’ve never trusted before. It may be more difficult to trust because, by all indications, you feel abandoned and left alone. Your faith is tested as never before, but hold on the truth that God knows what He is doing, and He will complete His work in you. (Philippians 1:6)

Take heart, you are the 100th sheep, and He is the Good Shepherd.

Sincerely,

Norman, a fellow 100th Sheep