Elijah, the prophet, once thought that he was the only man on the face of the earth that had not forsaken God.  (I Kings 19:9-18) “And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?  And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.  And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.  And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?  And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.  And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.  And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.  Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”  Elijah found himself in a place that many Christians have been.  We are in battle, the enemy by far out numbers those who stand for righteousness.  Yet, as did Elijah, many times when we think we are all alone and we find that we are not as alone as we thought we were.  See also (Romans 11:1-4).

The Apostle Paul correctly concluded: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”  (Philippians 4:13).  The saying is true that strength comes in numbers.  It is also true that with God nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26).  Whether we are facing personal trials, defending the truth against false teachers, or struggling with our faith we must realize these things are temporary.  We fight the fight, run the course, and try to keep the faith so that we can have eternity with God (II Timothy 4:7-8).

Satan wants us to feel alone and vulnerable.  Satan is compared to a lion seeking to whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8).  He does a good job when the numbers are on his side.  He does great when those whom he works on forsake the word of God and allow him to cloud their minds (Genesis 3:1-7 and II Corinthians 11:3).  Of course we can win against Satan when we use the word of God in the right way, as did Christ (Matthew 4:3-11).  We must remember to resist the power of Satan.  (James 4:7) “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  We do not want to find ourselves ignorant of Satan’s devices (II Corinthians 2:11).

By Elijah’s example of his attitude and the lesson we can learn that when we feel all alone we are not, we must learn to count on our brethren.  The body is to work together (I Corinthians 12:14ff.).  When Christians are together they edify [build up] each other.  This is how the body of Christ keeps strong.  (Ephesians 4:16) “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”  (I Thessalonians 5:11) “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”  The strength that brethren can draw from one another will compliment the strength they draw from studying God’s word.  This will make the church a force that chases away evil and properly stands for God’s truth.  The next time you feel alone, remember 7,000 had not bowed to Baal and there are many today throughout the world that are standing for the truth and defending God’s word!  (Romans 8:31) “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”