The Power of One. God’s been increasing my awareness of it, and shaping my heart to better understand it. Noticing the everyday things causing ripple effects. Upon one sigh, expression, letter (see above), word, sentence, tear, note, encounter, gesture, action…the future hinges. With the birth of one little person, a man becomes an Uncle, and a seasoned woman earns a new title: Grandma. Pretty powerful thought, huh? The Power of One.
So often, I find myself flying on automatic. Quick to judge, slow to forgive. Quick to speak, slow to hear. Quick to fix, slow to let Him fix. Quick to claim the applause, slow to give Glory where it’s rightfully due. The Power of One.
***We’re called as Christians to live not of this world. There is ONE Kingdom that—by following Jesus—we are rightful heirs to.***
Dunno about you, but I need reminders. Not just daily, but by the minute. Thank God almighty, he doesn’t give US just ONE chance. The Good Shepherd reminds us, we repent, and try yet again. The Power of One.
With ONE breath, God breathed the world into existence. With ONE choice, Eve listened to the enemy and caused the Great Fall. With His ONE son, the Lord forever revealed the ONE path to redemption. The Power of One.
When you fight for a cause, such as Abby Johnson does with the Pro-life ministry, you fight because there is at least one more. One more Mama torn between life and death for her baby. So you keep fighting for life. One more abused animal who cannot speak to defend itself. So you keep fighting for healing. One more young girl trapped in the throngs of sexual slavery. So you keep fighting for freedom. One more child struggling in school. So you keep fighting for wisdom. One more child of God without a home. So you keep fighting for new hope. You keep fighting…empowered by awareness, patience, optimism, courage, compassion, restoration, healing and peace. Because you know, for just one, it’s so worth it. You know, also, that it takes just one to light that candle. The Power of One.
Think about the kitchen. I LOVE to cook (Most days, that is. When i don’t have hungry, arguing kids underfoot.) I’ll never forget making a quadruple batch of my Mama’s pancake mix. I could have sworn I saw one little letter “b” hanging out next to the “T” and dumped a TON of extra salt into the bowl. Botched one ingredient because I saw one extra letter. And one whole recipe (times FOUR) went sailing into the trashcan.
How many times in the kitchen have you eliminated one little ingredient because either: you didn’t have it, and didn’t have time to go get it; you tried to make said recipe healthy, and thought nobody would notice the omission; you just plain forgot it. RARELY does that recipe ever come out the same. Extreme case? Bread without yeast. You catch my drift? The Power of One.
The Power of One: Jesus Christ. Nelson Mandela. Thomas Jefferson. Martin Luther King. Abe Lincoln. Harriet Tubman. Anne Frank. George Washington. Rosa Parks. Martin Luther. Socrates. Sir Isaac Newton. Napoleon Bonaparte. Confucius. Plato. Christopher Columbus. Joan of Arc. Aristotle. Mozart. Albert Einstein. Pablo Picasso. Pope John Paul II. Princess Diana. John F. Kennedy. Gandhi. Tim Berners Lee. Dalai Lama. Johann Gutenberg. Mother Teresa. Ernest Hemingway. Thomas Edison. Eleanor Roosevelt. Henry Ford.
If I was asked before this revelation to break the Bible down to one word, I’d have accepted defeat before even attempting. In Scripture Study today, I was led to: 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Hmmm. Pretty direct, don’t you think? He saved the best for last: LOVE. Going one step further, I kinda have a thing for threes. Look at the reference again, and count the ones. There are three! Like the Trinity! LOVE > LOVE > LOVE. There you have it, folks. We DID it! We condensed the Bible into a single word: Love…the Power of One.
Instead of being overwhelmed with the thought of a marathon, start with *one* step. Don’t let fear intimidate you. Just start. Realize & embrace the Power of One…