It's Not About the Numbers



Photo courtesy of boston.com

We have considered the matter of influence quite a bit on this blog and how nebulous and elusive it seems at times.  Does what I do matter?  Is it important?  Necessary?  Appreciated?  Impactful?  Sometimes it is tempting to sit back and assess some of these questions apart from the Lord.  Take this blog, for example.  There is a little button I can click on the Blogger desktop entitled "STATS" and I can check on how many "hits" each of my blog postings have received.   Upon occasion, I will click on this button (out of boredom perhaps? Curiosity?  Pride?) and I will see numbers ranging from double to single digits.  Not rock-star statistics, I can assure you!  When I am discouraged, I remind myself of why I do what I do.  Why do I blog and share...instead of simply journal?  Does it really matter?  Influence? Impact? And I always come back to the same answer...it is simply because I am called to do it for this season of my life.  And my job is to be faithful to the call.  And God's job is to change hearts and lives and use it as He sees fit!

We see King David make the same mistake as I did (although perhaps on a greater scale) later in his life when he deems it necessary to take a census of all the fighting men in the nation of Israel.  Let's look at 1 Chronicles 21:1-4 and investigate this a bit further...

"Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. ² So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” ³ But Joab said, “May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” ⁴ But the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. ⁵ And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David."

 (NOTE: a parallel passage in 2 Samuel 24:1 states, "Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them..." either way, we know God is sovereign and can use Satan for His purposes and that God Himself tempts no one to sin (James 1:13))

So we see here that despite his commander Joab's protests, David orders him to go out and number the men of Israel who are capable to fight.  And we go on to learn that God was displeased with what David did...enough so to exact a very serious punishment (pestilence) on the nation of Israel, and we see David become convicted about his request to Joab, acknowledge it as a sin, and ask God for forgiveness...

^"But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”  (1 Chronicles 21:7-8)

So why did David number the troops?  And more importantly, why was this a sin?  Well, the text does not specifically tell us; however, various commentaries state that it was probably a matter of pride in David's heart, as he sought to know how mighty his nation's military strength was and, therefore, how powerful and influential they were as a nation.  Why did David want to know this? Was not God the reason they had found victory over their enemies in the past...and not in their military might? By performing this census, David (and the nation of Israel) took his eyes off of God as his ruler, fortress, and provider, and instead took delight in Israel's might and resources.

At least I am in good company! King David of Israel, the very man who was the boy with the sling who killed the giant Goliath and rebuked his people for not recognizing the battle was the Lord's (1 Samuel 17), struggled to see that his might/power/influence was from God and not from a bunch of statistics! 

So today, let's not seek to quantify that which can never be quantified.  Let's not jockey for man's approval, compliment, or look to numbers--like those found on our bank statements, bathroom scales, or Facebook updates--to help us feel powerful or influential.  Instead, let's look to a mighty God who determines our influence and seek Him who is all-powerful!