Why I Cherish The Number “ 7 ”

Notes:
1. Just “cherish” NOT “worship” or being superstitious about the number " 7 ".
2. Thanks to SARAH BENSON who helped me edit the title above.

If I have to choose one-digit number to be my favorite, the number “ 7 ” is the one. Below are some reasons why I cherish the number “ 7” (Please bear with me as I present the examples below. The most important reason actually comes at the end of the story.)

-I was born on July 7 ( or you can write it 7/7 ).

-The first letter of my name is “L”, which, if you turn it 180 degree, it will form like the number “ 7.”

-My last name, “Hartono” contains 7 letters.

-The house number of my family’s residence in Indonesia is 17 (the one-digit number “ 7 “ is there).

-I’m currently staying with an American host family who lives in a street called “Old SEVEN Mile Pike.” (Sometimes people write it “Old 7 Mile Pike”)

-I'm currently working in a fabric shop that has a street number "701".

-My host mom’s mother considers me her granddaughter. I am her 7th granddaughter.

-It took me 7 months after my profession of faith in the Lord Jesus to realize that I needed to start attending a good Christian church. (No, I didn’t do this in purpose.)

-About 7 years ago, I had a set of very special bobby pins that are hard to find. There were eight pieces in that set. I started carrying them along in my purse just in case I need to do something with my long hair. About a year after that, I lost one of them. Since then (up to present), I have been carrying the other 7 in my purse.

-During my graduation day at Indiana University in Dec 03, my younger sister bought 7 pieces of balloons for me. She knew “ 7 “ was my favorite number. When we got to our apartment, a good friend came to visit and she bought me three balloons. So, I had a total of ten. The balloons were special to me, and thus, I kept them in the corner of the living room with care. The next morning when I woke up, something interesting happened. I found out that three of the balloons have popped at night. You got it! There were then 7 balloons left! I kept them until they were naturally flat (and then had to throw them away).

-When I went home to Indonesia last year, I bought two new attires to bring back to the US (since the price in Indonesia is better). I needed more of this kind of attires while in the US. However, on the day I needed to fly back to the US, I left two of the older attires at home. I didn’t have time to go back to get them since I had to be in the airport soon or else, I would have missed my flight. Only recently I happened to count these attires. I smiled when I found out that I have a total of 7.

-Some of you might know that this coming summer, Lord willing, RACHEL LEE, is going to Indonesia to help out with the English Camp. The camp orientation for the staffs will start on 7/7/7. This will be my b-day. Rachel’s coming and the English Camp itself will be two of my wonderful gifts from the Lord from my b-day! Every time I’m about to go home, my parents always ask, “Is any of your American friends going with you? Tell them they are welcome to come to our house. We have rooms for them!” Rachel Lee will be the first American friend to go to Indonesia with me. (And yes, we’re still praying hard for others to come and help, as the Lord wills. If you think you want to consider helping out with this English Camp, please see my other note about it.)

The above are just a few examples and reasons why I cherish the number “ 7 .“ But the most important reason why I cherish the number “ 7 “ is this:

We know “ 7 “ is the number of perfection in the Bible. I cherish the number “ 7 ” because it reminds me of the perfection of my Lord and my God Jesus Christ. When some of the not-so-pleasant things listed above happened (i.e. I lost and/or broke my personal things), I would sometimes be too quick to complain, “But why, Lord? You know I treasured those things.” Just to let you know that most of the things I treasure are not expensive. For example, some of them could only worth less than $10. But the thing is, since I was little, I have been taught to be faithful even in little things (which is a great -- I thank the Lord for my parents). So, I will always attempt to fix my broken personal belongings or search for the missing ones until I know this cannot be done anymore.

Yet, no matter how good it is to be faithful in small things He has entrusted to me, I must also learn to let it go whenever the Lord asks for it or takes it away from me. This is the hard part; yet, the most rewarding part. When, for example, I lost that special bobby pin, balloons, and could not have more of those attires, the number “ 7 “ seems to be a reminder that I must keep my eyes on the Lord Jesus, not on things on earth. He might have allowed the above circumstances happened to keep reminding me of the perfection of His Son. The Lord Jesus is the perfect in every way! He is the perfect sacrifice for us, sinners. He is the perfect Lamb of God without spot or blemish! He was made to be sin for us, so that we who believe in Him (through faith) will be justified and be saved from eternal damnation (1 Peter 1:19, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Acts 16:30-31).

Since the Lord Jesus is perfect, then He is sufficient, too! A hymn writer has said it well, “I need no other argument, I need to other plea; It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me.” His grace is sufficient for me. His strength is made perfect in my weakness. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. That’s the reason He commands that I must live and take one day at a time. His grace is sufficient for the trouble I’m going through today. Tomorrow I must depend on His mercies, compassions, and loving kindness which are new every morning (2 Corinthians 12:9, Matthew 11:30, Matthew 6:34, Psalm 143:8, Lamentations 3:22, 23). For you who have not come to Him, come! He is patiently waiting for you. Come to Him now and He will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Call upon His name and you will be saved (Acts 2:21).

Yesterday, Wednesday, I had some thoughts that bothered me. I kept thinking about them during the day at work. As I pondered about those thoughts on the way to my car to go home, I did something that caused me to, again, lose my treasured personal belonging. It was only a water bottle (see picture above). It was not an expensive thing at all. Yet, I really liked it because of its great function, color, and size. This water bottle has been my great friend (wherever I go) in the past four years. Some friends would know that I was present in a certain area just by seeing my water bottle. Unfortunately, yesterday, I dropped it when I was walking to my car. The top broke. I was a bit sad since I would really miss it. Yet, we praise no one but One! By His grace, I could smile after I remembered that the Lord always takes things away from us for a good purpose. And I smiled even more when I realized my loving Father perhaps tried to remind me to always look unto Christ and not unto those bothering thoughts I had since that morning. How did He do this?

Believe it or not, yesterday was March 7, 2007.

I thank the Lord for His continual reminder to me through the number “ 7 “ .