Faith September 23, 2014 By
In 1969, Harry Nilsson and the band Three Dog Night told the world in song that 'One Is The Loneliest Number.' My personal experiences tend to support the notion that one is, if not the loneliest, at least not an enjoyable number. God, on the other hand, seems to derive tremendous satisfaction from the number one.
For example, when God chose to create mankind, what did he do? He created ONE man: Adam.
When God wanted to deliver the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt, what did he do? He put in place ONE man: Moses.
When God wanted to deliver the children of Israel from the Midianites, what did he do? He made a visit to ONE man: Gideon.
When God wanted to start his chosen people, he made a promise to ONE very old man: Abraham.
When God needed to save his chosen people from a diabolical plot to eliminate them completely, he had in place ONE Hebrew girl: Queen Esther.
When God needed a giant killed, he called on ONE very small shepherd boy: David.
My list of examples where God chose to use one could go on. I’ve purposely selected the list above because they represent men and women, young and old. And, obviously, I haven’t even mentioned the greatest 'one' of all: Jesus.
God has a thing for the number one in cases where the task at hand seems impossible, especially when the one is weak, old or young. Perhaps our God wants there to be no doubt where the credit should go when the deed is done.
One can truly feel like the loneliest number when you attempt to be a person of faith in our current society. Many times I feel alone when walking out my faith. I sense a growing resentment for all things spiritual in much of our society. And, it doesn’t help when a majority of the time I feel totally unqualified for the spiritual task at hand. Maybe you have shared my experience.
I’ll leave you with three things we should all remember:
- None of us are ever alone. Jesus promised he would never leave us or forsake us. But beyond that, even today there is a strong remnant of people who believe.
- Anyone with God becomes the majority. If God is on your side, does it really matter who’s on the other side?
- And most importantly: The less qualified you are in the flesh, the more qualified you are to be used by God.
