The Ninety And Nine And The One

I have always been intrigued by the Parable of the Lost Sheep. From Luke 15:4-7:

4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine ^ain the wilderness, and go after that which is ^blost, until he find it?

 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

 7 I say unto you, that likewise ^ajoy shall be in heaven over one ^bsinner that ^crepenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

I'm very interested in this idea of leaving ninety and nine in the wilderness and going after the one. On its face, it doesn't sound correct to me. Perhaps this is partially because I'm not a sheep herder, but it seems to me that all of the ninety and nine need the shepherd, and how can you sacrifice 99 to go after 1? The math doesn't add up for me.

However, sheep aren't helpless, and neither are the people that the sheep represent in the parable. A flock of sheep will protect the sheep in the flock, but a sheep that is alone is almost completely helpless. One of the lessons the Lord is teaching here is that we have a responsibility to take care of each other, or else the ninety and nine would be just as helpless as the one in the wilderness.

I think another lesson from this parable is that the Lord loves each of us and is aware of our different situations. He knows when we are among the ninety and nine and when we are the one lost in the wilderness, and He attends to us appropriately. This tells me that when I don't feel the Lord's support its not because He has abandoned me - its because He knows that its not what I need at this time, and I should have faith that He'll know when I do need it.