Normally, I’d just kind of skim these verses. And, actually, I did . . . the first time through. But then something (Someone?) made me go back and hover a little . . . and do a little math.

In Joshua 12 a roll is taken, a summary listed of the peoples defeated by Joshua & Co. west of the Jordan. Whether it was in the hill country or in the lowlands; whether on the slopes or in the wilderness; Israel defeated king after king. How many kings? Thirty-one kings. How’d they do it? One at a time. Making me think this morning that, when it comes to taking on our own battles, one is the only-est number.

And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites): the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; . . .the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.

(Joshua 12:7-10, 24 ESV)

One . . . one . . . one . . . one . . . Get the pattern? Feeling the rhythm? Is there something this repetition is laying down that I should be picking up? I’m thinkin’!

Let’s be honest, taking the land — even when it’s promised land — can be a somewhat daunting task. A big undertaking. A lot of unknowns. Fierce enemies ready to fight because, at least in Joshua’s situation, they were fighting for their lives. So how do you move into a land with a lot of enemies? How do you take territory that’s bigger than you know? Reminds me of the modern proverb: “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: One bite at a time. Applying that answer: One king at a time.

Sure, a few of them ganged up together and tried to create some critical mass in order to defeat Joshua’s entering army, but God had determined in advance their destruction and Israel’s deliverance (Josh. 11:19-20). So, when all was said and done except for doing the math afterward, the counting was done one at a time. ‘Cause one is the only-est number.

I don’t have a land to possess, but I do have a world to resist (1Jn. 2:15). I’m not called to destroy cities, but I am commanded to die to self (Rom. 8:12-13). I may not be a warrior, but I am a wrestler, and I’m not wrestling against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12). I may not be at war, but there always seems to be tribulation (Jn. 16:33). So, how do I go forward and take on what God has put before me to take on?

I meet each challenge, I enter each battle, one at a time. In the name of the LORD. No confidence in myself, but confident in the one who has promised to complete the work He’s begun (Php. 1:6). No strength in myself, but my weakness actually being the “secret sauce” for displaying the power of God (2Cor. 12:9). Not always sure of what’s ahead or how I’m gonna get through it, but assured that the God who saved me is the God who is with me and will never leave me nor forsake me (Joshua 1:5, Heb. 13:5). So, I enter the fray and stand fast against whatever the opponent, and I do it one by one by one by one by one . . . (you get the idea).

Overwhelmed? Sometimes. But if God is for us who can be against us (Rom. 8:31)?

And so, by faith and loaded up with mercies that are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23), we’ll take on whatever needs to be taken on, reminded that one is the only-est number.

But also reminded that, in Christ, one isn’t the loneliest number — for Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20). And that’s one thing we just can’t ever forget. Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.