A BAND OF BROTHERS -- Devotional for April 24, from "Good Seeds"

Two are better than one, for if either falls, the other will lift him up; but woe to the one who falls where there is not another to help him. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily torn apart (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in their midst (Matthew 18:20).

Gideon had his 300 men, but in the face of Midian’s hordes, they were like three facing a thousand. Like three, yes, but not at all like one. God called Gideon to fight this enemy, but He didn’t expect him to do it alone. Oh, it didn’t need to be man for man, sword for sword, but Gideon did need a band of brothers to stand with him in the fray. Not that God only works through groups, for there have been times when a servant of God is left entirely alone, and yet God accomplishes His work through him. The greatest example of this is Jesus: on the eve of His crucifixion, with the devil tempting Him to bypass the cross, He longed for human companionship. But His disciples preferred their sleep to their Savior. And when He hung on the cross, He took the pain – and bore our sins – without a friend. He died alone, forsaken by all, for you and me. There may come a time when you and I must face our foe – and whatever life dishes out to us – alone. But this is not the way God usually works. And we will NEVER have to go it alone without Him. Only Jesus would ever have to pray, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” For all other “sons” of God the promise remains, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Even if supported by an army of human helpers, the man without God is totally vulnerable, while a man alone, but with God, is completely safe, for “underneath are the Everlasting Arms.” “One plus God is a majority,” is surely true. Still, the norm for facing the enemy, and the storms of life, is partnership. At a low point in his life Paul mourned, “No man stood with me, but all forsook me” (2 Tim 4:16). He speaks of his once faithful co-worker, Demas, as having deserted him in the end. Though a singular giant of a man of God, Paul constantly mentions others by name as his partners in ministry. Margaret Mead unknowingly reflected a principle of God’s work through His church when she said, “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has!” D.L. Moody went a step further: “Give me 100 men who love only God and fear only sin, and I will change the world.” Will you be part of a band of brothers like that?