As believers, we need to plead with those considering abortion to choose life. Ray Comfort did, and God allowed him to meet the child whose life was spared.
October 22, 2025
Life is filled with never-ending trials. Each day seems to bring problems that can potentially drown us in sorrow. Look at how Scripture addresses this by saying that the pressure of these trials come “on every side”:
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)
These painful pressures leave us “perplexed.” In other words, they leave us baffled. I have a friend for whom I pray daily. He loves the Lord and has devoted his life to reaching the lost. Here’s the baffling part. He was diagnosed with cancer and Parkinson’s disease at the same time. One by itself is a nightmare, but to get both is a horror beyond words. My friend Danny is baffled as to why God would allow him to go into such a dark valley, but he’s not in despair. Despair is said to be “the absence of hope.” However, the Bible refers to our hope as “an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19). Our storms, no matter how intense, only come for our good—we have God’s promise on that (Romans 8:28). But the ungodly are in a terrible storm without an anchor for the soul. Trials leave them in despair.
The One Lost Sheep
Look at how Jesus begins this verse and how He uses two interesting phrases when describing the Great Commission:
“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.” (Matthew 18:12-13)
The two interesting phrases are “What do you think?” and “go to the mountains.” Jesus saying, “What do you think?” should provoke us to thought and then to action. And secondly, if we want to reach out to the lost, we have to go to the mountains. We are to leave the 99 and climb the mountain. That takes a concerted effort.
One major mountain is Mount Self. That’s a big one. We will have to overcome natural human selfishness—things in our lives that we consider to be more important than the fact that people are going to Hell. This mountain includes a continual fear of rejection. Mount Self is all about me. And that’s a huge obstacle.
“Our storms, no matter how intense, only come for our good—we have God’s promise on that (Romans 8:28). But the ungodly are in a terrible storm without an anchor for the soul.”
Then there is Mount Apathy. These two high peaks are joined at the base. People are going to Hell, and because I’m selfish, I don’t care. This mountain is overcome by the love of Christ. It constrains us. It forces us to go in a certain direction. That’s what it means to “constrain” someone. As followers of Jesus, we don’t have any choice. Love won’t let us let apathy have its evil way. And if there is a lack of love, apathy will fill that vacuum in a second.
This mountain climbing takes place even though trials are on every side. Look at what the apostle Paul says. After he speaks about these continual trials, he brings us back to having a zeal for the lost:
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. (2 Corinthians 4:13-14)
If we believe, we will speak. We will leave the 99 who are saved, and we will climb mountains to seek and save that which is lost. “What do you think?” Am I right?
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