One for the Little Bitty Baby

Loneliness is the feeling I get when I think of the first verse of the song "Children, Go Where I Send Thee". The words are "I'm gonna send thee one by one; one for the little bitty baby (He was born, born, born in Bethlehem)."

One by one? No thank you. If I am to have an assignment from God, I'd much rather it be a group effort, or at least a task for two, than a solo act.

Wasn't it a lot safer for Esther to remain in the midst of Ahasuerus' harem than to walk alone and uninvited into the king's presence to ask him to spare the lives of her people?

I know it was more relaxing for me to be one of many congregants or even one of several ministers in a church than to be the pastor's wife.

As much as some of us may prefer getting "lost in the sauce", though, God has at least one individual assignment (and probably many) for each of us, as well as plenty of group work.

But, before we start complaining or crying about all God asks of us, let's stop for a reality check and see that God will never ask any of us to do anything even approaching what He required of His Son, Jesus.

Jesus stepped down from the height of heaven to occupy the life of an ordinary child of an unwed mother. He came to achieve the incredible task of proving God's love for us by bearing the pain of all our sins so that we could be saved from ourselves.

Next time God asks me to pray for someone when I'm sleepy or even to stand up in defense of my faith, I'll try to remember, not the old refrain "what would Jesus do" that was so popular years ago, but "what did Jesus do?" And I'll recall that when God puts me on a solitary task, I'm in the company of Jesus, and one-by-one doesn't have to be lonely.