Go After the One Lost Sheep - A Pro-life Antidote to Discouragement

I taught my little nursing home art class how to draw a teapot, and then use watercolors to paint it.  When I showed them my demonstration painting, they all said, "That's too hard. I can't do it."

I told them, "Yes you can. I will show you step by step, and we will do it together."

Look at what an incredible job they did! Every resident painted a lovely teapot. The room was mobbed. Probably my largest class so far. VERY gratifying.

I dashed from my art class to meet with a post-abortive mom along with Cities4Life director, Daniel Parks. We want to help her, but are uncertain of how best to do so. I asked her what were her needs that she hoped we could meet?

She seemed surprised by the question, thought a moment, and then said, "I meant what I said when I first met you guys and asked Jesus to be my Lord. I want to go to church...but I don't even know where to start. Help me find a good church."

I had thought she might ask for money, which she desperately needs. Maybe food. Maybe a gas card. Maybe help with rent. She asked for a recommendation for a great church. The hopelessness of her situation turned at that moment in my mind.

While her baby is gone, and that is terribly sad, this woman's story is not over yet. Yesterday morning before our meeting, I read a Bible study about how God doesn't work the best return for His investment. If 99 sheep are safe, but one is lost, He pursues the lost sheep.

That's what I felt like Daniel and I were doing yesterday. That is what makes this pro-life ministry one I am so proud to be affiliated with. Every soul is precious to God. Every soul should be precious to us.

Sometimes, the magnitude of the women's problems that we deal with and their distance from God is overwhelming. Note, this woman aborted after she asked Jesus into her life! She called me because when her world fell apart, she didn't have anyone else to turn to. How can anyone hope to successfully convey God's message and help these people so incredibly lost and hardened to His call? There have been more than a few times I have said, "Lord, I can't do this."

God tells us, "Yes you can. I will show you step by step, and we will do this together."

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Luke 15:3-7

So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.