Don't Count

     We love math!  Well, most of the time . . . but being a homeschooling family requires that most days hold lots of time for counting and multiplying, dividing and subtracting.  In fact, we never really outgrow math, do we?  As we get older we just find different applications for the same principles we learned when we were young.

     There is one area of my life that I believe God has shown me to stop using math in, and that is in the area of "counting" and effectiveness! 

     Don't you find we are surrounded by people, books and experiences that tell us we are only effective in this world if the numbers are significant?

     If we plan a birthday party, we think the number of people who come reflect popularity.  If we teach Sunday School, we want to know how many kids were in our class.  If we lead a Bible Study, we're tempted to feel we have accomplished more if there are larger numbers in attendance.  Even pastors often fall into the trap of evaluating their effectiveness on the number of people that show up on a Sunday morning. 

     We live in a society that is compelled to count!

     In the book of I Chronicles we are told that mighty king David was tempted by Satan to count the number of fighters that were in Israel.  When David gave the decree for the men to be counted, he acted in willful disobedience towards God and he was severely punished for it.  In fact, God gave him three choices for a consequence; three years of famine, three months of being swept away before his enemies, or three days of plague ravaging all of Israel.  Notice that all the options were wide-spread and would affect far more than just David who sinned in the counting of men.  In the end, he chose the plague and 70,000 men died -- huge ramifications for what seemed an insignificant decision.

     When we determine our effectiveness by "counting" numbers in the areas we're involved in, we are succumbing to using our ways to determine God's outcomes.   

     The point is not to live in fear of God striking down thousands of people -- the point is this:  Satan will tempt us to get our eyes off of what is truly important and valuable and try to put them onto things that are shallow with the world's ways of determining our effectiveness.  That is not God's method! 

     It's been said that, "We are not called to success, we are not called to failure; we are only called to obedience."

     If we spend our days wiping drippy, red noses and picking up dump trucks and dollies, we may not feel very "effective" most days . . . BUT God sees way beyond what we think is trivial and He calls us to invest in our sweet, little children.  May we NEVER be found "counting" our success in the simple accomplishments that we're surrounded by -- it may be years before the fruit of our lives shines -- but we can rest assured that nothing goes unnoticed by God.

"Those who obey His commands

live in Him, and He in them."

I John 3:24