If you’re anything like me, large crowds often are highly nerve-racking. Sometimes panic ensues when the crowd grows tighter and personal space is decreased exponentially. If you’ve been in a mall on Christmas Eve or a Barnes and Noble on black Friday, you’ll understand what I mean by the masses of people moving in a chaotic fashion. When I become engulfed in a crowd like this my priority becomes to remove myself before I get stepped on or lost in the crowd.
My fear of crowds didn’t necessarily stem from my frequent attendance to rock concerts, where six foot individuals attempted to initiate mosh pits in my personal space (usually at this point my temper began to flare), but mainly from the fear of being lost in the crowd. It’s almost as if I would get swallowed whole by the masses of people. The fear of being lost in a crowd like this reminds me of the fear many people have in life. Getting lost in a mass of people can seem to some like their personal identity is also lost.
This was my thinking for years. Being in multitudes only heightened the internal fear that I held. It wasn’t until recently that God began to change my thinking. I’ve come to learn also that I may not be the only one experiencing this internal confusion. On our own, the solution to the intimidation created by a crowd may unfortunately be resorting to comparison in order to differentiate ourselves. Sometimes in our own strength we try to differentiate ourselves from the crowd by our successes, who we associate with, our level of religiousness (the most vile in my opinion) and so on. Our solution to being lost in the crowd might work, sure, but only temporarily.
That means our “solution” is just a quick fix.
But God has the only true solution and it is already within us. Each and every one of us has something specific that no one else has; something to contribute that can make an impact. Sadly, it is rare that this uniqueness is fully realized. The Greek word for unique is “monadikos” which also means “one of a kind”, or simply “only”. You are created specifically one of a kind in order to do on earth what no one else can do. Romans 12:6 says that “God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well.” Your unique giftings and specific vision were given only to you to accomplish your purpose. No one else can do what you can. I don’t know about you, but that instills a greater sense of confidence and purpose in my life.
So, with this truth, we can have confidence when we are surrounded with multitudes and be a little less intimidated (if you're not claustrophobic, that is). We can appreciate the diversity of people and be thankful also for our own uniqueness. I’ve slowly learned to observe the people who comprise the crowds I’m amongst and be amazed at how each and every single person is the only one like him or her.
Maybe then the crowds aren’t so daunting.
Maybe then we can better understand that each of us is one of a kind.
