January 25, 2010

• blogging, view count, comments, numbers and the glory of God

  As background to this post...two things:

  1. My post "deer alert" (a very light-weight blog, to say the least) got a lot more immediate attention than my average blog...it even ended up on top blogs here at Xanga for a short time, which is a rarity for me (I think that may have happened once before)...

  2. Xanga appears to be on a continuing slide downward (see http://siteanalytics.compete.com/xanga.com+blogger.com+wordpress.org/). (HT: llamalima)

  * * *

  
  I've ended up reading in Ezra and along with that, read this in Matthew Henry's commentary (his introduction to Ezra):

  This beginning again of the Jewish nation was small, yet its latter end greatly increased.

  It certainly was small...42,360 people...

  Especially when we consider that between approximately 2-3 million people were saved out of Egypt and then entered into Canaan (consider the censuses of men who were able to battle in Numbers 1 & 26, and then do the math and add in the older men, women and children).

  But let's remember that smallness never hinders the work or purpose of God.

  Consider that God called one man, Abram, from out of Ur. And out of him all the nations of the earth were blessed. By faith in Jesus Christ, Abraham's seed, his descendants have become like the dust of the earth.

  Or consider that the nation of Israel consisted of 70 people (Genesis 46:27) when Jacob and the family emigrated to Egypt in the time of Joseph when there was severe famine.

  Out of that remnant, God's plan to send Messiah through the Jewish nation remained intact. Amazing! Miraculous!

  Or, let's consider the story of Gideon (Judges 7).

  Gideon starts out with 32,000 men to battle against the Midianites.

  But what does God tell Gideon?

  "Hey, Gideon, you've got too many men."

  Um, I don't know about Gideon, but my first instinct (human, fleshly, sinful instinct, i.e., not Spirit-led, not setting my mind on things above, not walking by faith) would be to say,

  "Lord, You know we can't ever have too many men. We're a little short here. We've got a battle to fight. There's hardly anyone here with us now. We've got to plan just in case. Better safe than sorry, You know..." (Consider Mrs. Beaver bringing along the sewing machine...yeah, that's me.)
  

  Of course, God's ways and God's thoughts are not our ways or our thoughts, they are infinitely higher than ours because He is infinitely higher than any of us!

  Of course, God works not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit.

  Of course, the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power.

  Yes, I know those things in my head but my flesh keeps lusting against the Spirit, it keeps fighting against the truth of who God is and how He chooses to operate and act in the affairs of men.

  Now, back to the story Gideon...

  Ok, so God tells Gideon to let leave any men who are fearful and trembling...So with that 22,000 of the 32,000 take off, leaving 10,000. Ok, that sounds pretty good to me.

  But not to God. His response: The people are still too many.

  Still too many! Wow! We've already gotten the army reduced by over 2/3 of its original size. Yet God calls for a further paring down of the army by instituting a test:

  "Whoever kneels down to drink, they're outta here...whoever is left are the men I'm giving you to fight the battle."

  

  And with that there were left 300 men. If we do the math, that's less than 1% of the original number.

  What's God's purpose in doing this? Well, consider: what is God's purpose in all things? It's no different here:

  Verse 2: The LORD said to Gideon, The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, My own hand has saved me.

  The glory of God! God's purpose has always been and will always be all about His glory.
  
  

  When Gideon arm’d his numerous host,
  The Lord soon made his numbers less;
  And said, “Lest Israel vainly boast,
  ‘My arm procured me this success.’”
  (William Cowper)

  Yes, God could have used the full 32,200 men, or 300 men, or even just one man, but what concerns the LORD first and foremost is His glory. Always. Everywhere. In all things. It's all about His glory. (Which also means it's not about us or about our glory...a continuing lesson He is trying to sink into my thick skull.)

  As Jonathan said (I Samuel 14:6):

  It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.
  

  After God pared down the army, if Gideon had trusted in what he had seen...

  And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.

  ...I think Gideon would have run away as fast as he could go. He would have become frightened and shrunk back in disbelief. That verse really stuck out to me as I read the words "abundance," "without number." I can imagine the temptation rising up as he saw the enemies' armies and their camels in contrast to his army:

  "Ok, Lord, umm, I don't know if the 32,000 would have done the trick, but you have got to be kidding me! Now we've only got 300 men. Not any 'abundance' on our side. Help! Do you really know what You are doing here? Should I get on my cell and call some of those guys that You sent home? Not meaning any disrespect here, since You are God, I know, but I'm wondering here, umm, well, You know, perhaps You were miscalculating things, um, might I say it, just a tad here."

  I can relate to that. I focus on what I see rather than Him who is not seen.

  When we are in the midst of visible impossibilities, we can only endure as we look to Him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:27). That's faith. Faith looks beyond what we see...the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

  God had given Gideon His promise, therefore Gideon wasn't counting men at that point, but he was counting on God and God's faithfulness and the promises of God. How often do I begin to count footprints or comments or ... rather than count on God and His promises? How often do I forget God's wonderful promise that His word will not return void but will accomplish the purpose He has intended for it. Gideon was trusting by faith in God's word; he was trusting that God was going to give Israel victory over the Midianites in spite of all appearances, and so Gideon held onto that promise. By faith! O, we of little faith. We're saved by faith, and we must walk by faith daily, especially when we see those large armies all about us and see how little our army is. That's the continuing challenge and excitement and joy of the Christian life. But without faith, it is impossible to please Him.

  We don't know what our faith is like until God puts us into those Gideon situations. Then we know. It's where the rubber meets the road. Am I going to trust in Him and His great promises, or look at the enemy and become fearful and shrink back in disobedience? Am I able to see the 300 men as totally sufficient and adequate for the task to which He has called me?

  There are some of us blogging here at Xanga and Revelife who love God and His Gospel with a deep passion (yes, only because He first loved us!). May our Lord protect us and strengthen us so we would not be willing to compromise the truth of His word for view count or comments or popularity or fear of men or whatever. May we trust God to work in His way through each one of us as we write what we believe He is directing us to write and to do so in a manner that is honoring to Him. May we endeavor to keep His glory first and foremost in our hearts and minds and may we strive to bow to Him and not to the praise of men. When we do so, we will never be ashamed. Never. Let us never be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ here or anywhere. May we never succumb to the continuing temptation to hide our light under a bushel. May we never crave the world's approval over His approval.

  Our Lord used the 12 11 disciples, and the 120 gathered in the upper room to build His Church. How can that be?

  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation.

  It wasn't about them and in the same way it's not about us. It's not about our cleverness. It's not about our power. It's not about our ability. It's not about our ingenuity. It's not about our wisdom. It's not about our strength. It's about God and His Gospel. As the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can trust that God will move in mysterious ways and powerful ways, in ways above all we can ask or imagine, in ways that break the power of sin and Satan over captive souls, all to His glory alone.

  For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
  27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
  30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
  31 Therefore, as it is written, Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
  

  –I Corinthians 1:26-31

  But God!

  That same God can bring victory and glory to Himself through 300 men, and He can do the same through people like us right here, many of us who will in all likelihood not ever become popular or ever get a lot of comments or ever get a lot of readers...I've seen it happen. Yes, the victories are small, not flashy, they won't get headlines, but there are angels rejoicing in heaven at what we are doing here. Lives are being impacted by the preaching of the Gospel. Let's not ever despise the day of small things. (O, may I daily remind myself of these things...)

  So, by the grace of God at work in us, let's labor hard here and keep our focus on first things first: proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit our God alone might get all the praise, honor and glory for He alone deserves it all.

  By the grace of God and the Spirit of God, let us not resort to our own means, but rely wholly on Him and press on for the prize of the high calling and blog to the glory of God and mortify those fleshly desires for view count, comments, recommendations, top blogs, etc., etc. Let's keep our eyes on Him and His promises. Let's look to seek His approval, and let's work so we might hear His words, "Well done, good and faithful servant" and be wholly satisfied in Him and Him alone. For we can have no true satisfaction and joy apart from the joy He gives, the joy we have when we are walking in His will for us.

  By His grace, in His service with great joy,
  Karen

  ---

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