When Meredith and I first got serious about going to church, we found ourselves in a Sunday school class with a small group of people who were roughly our same age or a hair older. That lasted for about 2 weeks before everyone went on vacation and we were left alone. We showed up for a couple more weeks before it dawned upon us that our class wasn't coming back. What were we to do? Should we pack up and attend another class with people in different stages of life than we were? Should we just stop coming until someone "more like us" started showing? It was only nature that we felt... a little lonely.
We decided to stick with it. We didn't want a class for young adults to die-off entirely, especially if there was a chance someone else could wander in. If we weren't willing to go it alone, who would be there when God sent someone our way? We did Bible study alone for weeks upon weeks until finally a couple visitors showed up. Then another. Then another couple. Eventually that class became one of the larger ones at that church. It's almost like God had a plan the whole time.
Our minds are conditioned to think in terms of worldly success. A successful church is one with hundreds of people and million-dollar budgets. A successful kid's program is one that all of the coolest and most connected parents want to attend. A successful ministry is one that gets the most "Likes" and "Shares" on Facebook. We want to see success in terms of things we can understand because it validates that what we are doing is worth the effort. When this is our primary motivating factor in ministry, we can quickly give up on meaningful callings when things aren't going our way. We can get discouraged when it feels like no one wants to hear the Gospel or has the slightest interest in a deeper faith. Suddenly, we can start feeling very, very alone.
I wonder if Gideon started to feel lonely at any point in time. When Gideon marched an army to expel the Midianites and Amalekites from Israel, he was already at a severe numerical disadvantage (something like 135K enemies to Gideon's 32K). What we know of the story is that God would make him feel even lonelier by whittling down his fighting force to a mere 300 soldiers. If Gideon didn't feel lonely before, he certainly must have felt lonely now. However, God had a plan. He wanted Gideon to feel that lack of worldly success so he could see that he wasn't really alone.
The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘I saved myself.’ (Judges 7:2)
God permitted Gideon to feel like he was alone, because only then would he understand that whatever victory was achieved was due to God's divine work... the work of the one who had been there the whole time.
As individuals, we struggle with worldly ideals of success every day. We worry about driving the right cars, wearing the right clothes, listening to the right music, having our kids in the right activities... we are burdened by all the things a lost and dying world tell us make successful, well-adjusted, and popular individuals and families. It is important for us to understand that God works with our weaknesses to achieve great things. God didn't want Gideon to raise a mighty army; God was the army. God doesn't want you to worry about being successful because he is your success. God doesn't want you to have to worry about being strong enough because he is your strength. God doesn't want you to worry about being righteous enough for his attention because Christ is your righteousness.
When living a life focused on God's success, and not our own, it can begin to feel very lonely. Suddenly old friends and acquaintances act like they don't know us and our priorities may drive us to spend our time differently than "the status quo". When those feelings of loneliness hit, it's important that we hold strong and understand that though we may feel alone, we are never truly alone. God walks with us in our loneliness and says, "Now that you've accepted your weakness, let me show you my strength."
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