In battle, one ship against five ships doesn’t stand a chance. No matter how hard that one ship fights, its crew are outnumbered and out gunned, and sooner or later, the ship will sink to the depths.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay (Hebrews 10:36–37 NIV).
I have been battling ants in my home lately. They are very persistent creatures. You block one entrance, and they find another way into your home. You can lay traps and call a professional, but some still manage to hang around. It amazes me that the ant is tiny enough to squash with your finger, yet in an army they can cause you to panic.
I have found that Christians are very similar to ants. (Stay with me on this.) When we try to go out and minister by ourselves, this world can easily crush us. We get overwhelmed and find it hard to talk to others. Our fear begins to outweigh our desire to witness. We panic and find ourselves retreating and feeling sorry for ourselves.
Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits (Mark 6:7 NIV).
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go (Luke 10:1 NIV).
Jesus knew that none of his disciples stood a chance alone, so he sent them out in pairs. When we travel in groups of two or more, we stand firm in our faith. We know that we are not alone, so we find the courage needed to go out and witness to others.
And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved (Hebrews 10:38–39 NIV).
I believe it is getting harder and harder to witness in this world. Satan has so much influence today that fewer and fewer people want to hear what we have to say. So, let’s take God’s Word seriously and not go out into battle without help. Just like those unrelenting ants, we need to travel with other Christians in our walk and never give up. You will no longer be outnumbered or out gunned, but armed and on the winning team!
Debbie Mitchell