One Against The World

There are times when we feel we are alone in our commitment to follow God and do what He asks of us. You become frustrated that your efforts to do His will have not brought many others to your side and basically you are all by your lonesome in the moment and circumstance in which God has strategically placed you. It is a very tough task to be one against the world with no one else rallying to your support. Throughout the history of God’s people there have been many an instance when the man or woman of God thought, “Is there no one else to stand with me? Do I need to fight this all by myself?” It was something Noah must have thought in his time, or Abraham, or Joseph, or Moses. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane could not get his closest friends to stay awake with Him and agonize with Him in His moment of greatest crisis. It is never an easy thing to stand by yourself when the chips are down and the stakes are great. Yet there are times when God puts you in this exact position to test the mettle of your faith and bind you to Him. He has done so with many others of His servants, why not with you?
Elijah should have known better than to think he was totally by himself, because he had already had involvement with some who had not bowed the knee to Baal. But in this moment of crisis he sincerely believed he was entirely without any other to stand with him. Elijah could not see it at the moment, but the others who were committed to the true God in that land did not number in the tens or even hundreds, they numbered in the thousands! (1 Kings 19:18) When Elisha, Elijah’s successor, alone with his servant was surrounded by an army completely encircling the city where he was with the purpose of capturing and killing him, Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his terrified servant beside him. When God did open his eyes the servant saw a far greater host of horses and chariots of fire standing between them and the enemy army. Elisha told his servant just before God opened his frantic eyes, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them (2 Kings 6:16) Likewise, the Apostle John, with a promise intended for you today said, “He who is in you, is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). But do you believe it? Do you believe God who says it is true?
You will find yourself in certain situations, or conversations, or perhaps very public moments, or faced with a critical task, where no one else is apparently going to say or do the right thing, the godly thing, and the Spirit of God prompts you to speak or act; you, and you alone, and you are thinking “Why me? You mean, me? By myself?” Or it may be a bigger task than just a moment. It may require a lot of work, and a lot of perseverance, and a great deal of patience, by yourself, alone. This is the time for you to remember, “Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.” and, “There are more with you, than there are with them.” This is practical faith; it is active faith; it is faith being put to the test; it is a faith that will grow because you are willing to speak out, to act, to persevere, by yourself! No one else there to praise you or encourage you on. To pass it by or to be unwilling to do it by yourself is to miss the blessing God gives to those who respond to Him when He calls you; yes, just you, in the moment, and also in the days when you must go it alone.
For those of you today who feel alone as you face a formidable obstacle, who fear speaking out because all eyes turn and look at you in the critical moment when a word from God is truly needed, or just because this is something you need to do yourself, because no one else can do it with you; do not fear doing it alone. See with faith the great cloud of witnesses, recognize that at the same time many others in the world under God’s eyes are also exercising faith “all alone”; but, not really alone; you are doing it with God at your side, and building the intimate relationship that comes from just you and God at work. Nothing else builds that relationship in the same way as just the two of you sharing that moment or task together; and you know it is just you two!
Nothing else accomplishes what this will do in you; you and God against the world!