Children of Abraham, Children of God

I am nothing but a grain of sand
Blown by the wind, tossed by the waves,
And in advance God told Abram
His children would be such He saves.1
I'm not alone in twofold ways.
His covenant extends to me.
I am strangely His in a strange land,
And this also comes secondly:
I'm only one of all tossed sands
That He counts and records,
Though I nor no man knows nor counts
What God bought and affords.

I am nothing but a lonely star
Amid the blackened space,
Lightyears distant, oh so far
From others in their place.
And as well as God knows the heart,
He told Abraham too
That his children would be as such,2
That what we are, He knew.
And every other star there is
Feels just as distant as I feel,
And yet if I but look around
I'll understand to God what's real.

I am Elijah in a cave.3
I'm afraid and so alone,
The winds of life surrounding me,
Then by the Spirit shown 
That 7,000 more like me
Are thinking the same thing.
They grope for God up the mountain
And to the cliffside cling.
And yet You made the stars to shine
And together form constellations.
You made the sand to be firm ground,
Combined to hold the nations.

Though blustery storms may veil the stars
And earthquakes shake the sand,
We seek You in Your still small voice.
We are each in Your hand.

1. Genesis 13:16, 22:7, 28:14, 32:12
2. Genesis 15:5, 22:17, 26:4
3. 1 Kings 19:8-18

Day 25

[A] bruised reed he will not break,
    and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
    he will faithfully bring forth justice (Isaiah 42:3)

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

We are not supposed to be a part of this world, and so we should never feel comfortable here, nor have comradery with it. The only place we should feel that is in the Church, and even then the sin nature of other believers creates conflict, while imposters in the Church run amuck. The true Church on the narrow road is just a remnant of a remnant. God made one small nations out of the whole world to represent Him, and of that only a small remnant really did that. God calls the Church to represent Him, but only a small remnant does that. When you’re in the minority, it’s easy to feel alone. But if you think about the big picture, about all the believers around the world right now, about all the believers who lived before you and have yet to live, then you will find yourself in a large company according to the Bible, so large as to be innumerable.

Perhaps when we feel the most alone and isolated, we are actually in the best company. Sadly, if true believers are in the minority, and yet the minority is too many to count, how many are on the road to destruction? The feeling of loneliness is not exclusive to the believer. I pity the person who is at the depths of his loneliness and does not have the relationship with Christ to comfort him in his loneliness. Those are the people who need to be reached. It’s worth feeling left out if it means reaching out. I bet the woman who lambasted me in the post office line for inviting her to church is really just lonely and hurting inside. I’m sure the boy who cursed out my children and me while trying to clip us with his bike at the community playground really just needs a good friend. Hurt people hurt people. Even when we feel the loneliest, let’s make sure others aren’t left feeling abandoned, inside the Church or outside.

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