God does not will that the little ones be lost…rather, he rejoices when he seeks and finds them. The Old Testament makes it clear that the Lord is the shepherd of his people, and that the relationship that exists between the Lord and the people is that of a shepherd and his flock. It is also clear that as a shepherd, God takes care of his people and is attentive to their needs. Jesus further elaborates this by saying that as a shepherd, God would go to great lengths to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the flock (laying down his life for them [cf. John 10:1ff]). It also goes without saying that the joy of any shepherd is when none from the flock under his charge gets lost (cf. John 6:39). This is why when one sheep out of a hundred strays from the flock, the shepherd readily leaves the ninety-nine in order to go look for the strayed sheep. A bystander might question the logic behind this: why risk the ninety-nine because of one who voluntarily decided to stray from the rest of the flock? What if the shepherd comes back only to find that five more sheep have strayed? Wouldn’t that be a double loss? While the bystander’s concern is indeed valid, the shepherd doesn’t share in it. For the shepherd, the focus is on the welfare of the lost sheep. What if the wolf attacks it? How would it defend itself against a bloodthirsty and murderous wolf? To the shepherd, the life of each and every member of the flock is important, even the lives of those who ‘voluntarily’ go astray. 
We never think of the ‘sleepless nights’ we cause God whenever we stray from the path God has set for us. We never pause to think of the ‘headaches’ we cause God when we persist in resisting God even as God reaches out to us. When we stray from God’s commands, God will always come after us because God knows we belong with him in the fold, not out in the wild and away from him. The more we stay away from God, the more risk we put ourselves in. This is why God rejoices when we return to the fold. No life is less important to God such that God can simply forget about it. God will do whatever it takes to ensure that each life is protected.