What Does It Mean that God Leaves the 99 for the 1?

Hi friend! You probably stumbled on here from a google search about God leaving the 99 for the 1. I often reflect on what it truly means for God to leave the 99 for the 1.

I’m quickly reminded of my own testimony—of feeling unseen, unheard, and alone.

Struggling back in Miami, I would take long walks around the neighborhood, crying out to God:"God, if You’re real, why would You let this happen to me? If You’re real, please show me. If You’re real, please help me—get me out of this."

Now, almost ten years later, I can say with certainty: God did.

I have always been drawn to the stories of the woman at the well (John 4), the woman with the issue of blood, the lost sheep, and even Hagar—the God who sees. I see myself in each of them. Maybe you do too.

The truth is, we have all strayed or have been outcast—but by the grace of God, we are whole.

The Woman with the Issue of Blood

The woman with the issue with the blood.

Mark 5:25-29 (NIV) says:"And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering."

She was desperate, unseen, and outcast—but Jesus called her daughter and made her whole.

The Lost Sheep

He finds us.

Luke 15:4-6 (NIV) reminds us:"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’"

We have all wandered, yet He pursues us with relentless love.

Hagar: The God Who Sees

God sees all.

In Genesis 16:13 (NIV), Hagar, abandoned and alone, declares:"She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’"

Even when she was cast out, God saw her, cared for her, and provided for her.

Isaiah 53:6 (NIV) confirms:"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Prayer:

Father, thank You for being the God who sees me. Thank You for finding me when I was lost and for never letting me go. Help me to remember that Your grace is what saves me, not my own strength. May I always trust that You will leave the 99 to rescue me when I wander. In Jesus' name, Amen.

You are seen. You are known. You are loved. ❤️