You count, to God: Numbers 1

Can you count the number of people? God Can.

Ok, I get the point. This was my initial thought as I read the first chapter of Numbers. Each verse began the same.
"From the descendants of ________ : 
   All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families. ²¹ The number from the tribe of ______ was ___."

Over and over it read, all the same. That is, until the name. The name change made the passage unique. With the name change was a number change as well.

I slowed down, purposefully. I read the passage, all 12 times. One for each of the tribes of Israel. I did not want to rush through, though another part of me wished I would just scan and jump to the last verse.  But oh what a treasure I would have missed if I listened to the impatient self instead of the ever-patient Spirit.


Around what seemed like the umpteenth time - really only the 12th - the proverbial light bulb clicked on.
We all count, to God.
One by one, and name by name, the time was taken to count them in.
God wants to know who is on the Lord's side.  He is keeping a log, that He has excitedly written our name in. He wants it to stay there. He wants to count you in when he returns, as part of the most powerful army there will ever be.

Don't worry, if you feel like you do not matter in  that "someone's" eyes. There is no pretending that it doesn't hurt. The heart pang is real. You want to mean something to him or her, or them. Just remember, God has the last say. And when you are counted in by God, if God be for you, who can be against you.  You matter. You count to God.