Outnumbered? Overwhelmed?
Life is never easy, but there are those times when we become so overwhelmed that we are filled with despair, feeling like we can never succeed. God, who supplies all our needs, has given us His words of truth to let us know just how wrong we are. Remember this. With the exception of two times (one was in the Garden of Eden; see if you can think of the other) the number of the ungodly has always far surpassed those who are godly. Look at the following words of encouragement He has given us about how we will triumph because He is here with us. Pay special attention to the word “thousand.”
Do not forget who has your back.
There were millions of Jews who left Egypt and headed for the Promised Land, but before them lay the task of conquering that land. Some readily gave up saying, “The people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large…there we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak) and we were like grasshoppers in our sight” (Num. 13:28, 33). They gave up.
Forty years later, their children entered that land under the leadership of Joshua. His view was always different from the view of the former generation. “Hold fast to the Lord your God as you have done this day. For the Lord has driven out from before you the great and strong nations; but as for you, now one has been able to stand against you to this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you” (Josh. 23:8-10). One chase a thousand? If there were six million Jews who entered the Promised Land, they could have defeated 6,000,000,000 pagans. How do you like those odds! When you feel outnumbered, remember this story. It is God who fights our battles.
Do not overlook that time when Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad (Judg. 3:31); Gideon’s small army killed over 100,000 Midianites (Judg. 8:10); Samson killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey (Judg. 15:15); and the Jews’ victory over 185,000 Assyrians without lifting a single weapon (2 Kgs. 19:35).
When you are discouraged because those living ungodly lives seem to be winning, read Psa. 38:17. “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of thousands.” He is among His people, and He and His heavenly army stand beside you. How many angels does He have? John said, “Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne…and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (Rev. 5:11). And the work of every one of them is to minister to us who are troubled (Heb. 1:14). Remember, you are not outnumbered!