Today’s devotional reading asked the same question, “What
can I do?” To answer it, the author pointed to two verses in Acts. The first is
Jesus speaking to His disciples. The second is Paul using the words of Jesus to
defend his work of evangelism to those who were “jealous” and contradicting
him.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Acts 13:47)
God’s answer to what I can do is always the same, “Obey
Me.” His command and determination for my life (and the lives of all His people)
is that I tell others about Jesus, and that He offers forgiveness and eternal
life.
In my egotism, no matter what I do toward this, I still feel
like I am not doing enough and that changing the world will not happen because
of me. Some days I wonder if I make any difference at all.
At that, God reminds me of another answer to this “what
can I do” question. It is the story of a man who walked a beach where thousands
of starfish had washed in with the tide. Seeing them stranded when the water
receded, he began picking up one starfish at a time and throwing it far out
into deep water.
Another man saw him and said, “What are you doing? There
are so many. How can what you are doing make a difference?”
The first man reached down, picked another starfish, and
as he threw it into the water he said, “It makes a difference to this one.”
Phillips Brooks answers my question with this, “You can
furnish one Christian life. You can furnish a life so faithful to every duty,
so ready for every service, so determined not to commit sin, that the great
Christian church shall be the stronger for your living in it, and the problem
of the world be answered, and a certain great peace come into this poor,
perplexed phase of our humanity as it sees that new revelation of what
Christianity is.”
Lofty thoughts. My heart protests that I am unworthy, but
no sooner do the words form in my mind that the Holy Spirit whispers, “This is
not about you.” He also reminds me that God can use and multiply five loaves
and two fishes to feed a multitude. My part is offering what I have; size and significance
are not an issue.
Our son was in elementary school when he began thinking
of how the world could be affected by whether or not he stepped on a single bug
on the sidewalk. He knew that a few insects begat more insects and that one
less or one more would make a tremendous difference. We chuckled at this, but I
now realize that I need to think more like that child. Besides, one person,
doing what God asks, is a rare thing these days. Even if I make a difference to
only one other person, then my efforts could have far-reaching, even eternal
consequences.
Jesus, first help me keep my mind on You, not on my
inadequacies. Also, do not let what I see around me become so overwhelming that
I crawl into a distraction. May Your commands continually pop to the front so I
clearly know what You want me to do — each day, hour, minute — and then just do
it. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment