Giving for the One
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted my life to count for something lasting. I’ve yearned for my actions to make a difference in the world, somehow, for somebody.
No, I’m not Oprah Winfrey, with pocketbooks full of big bucks.
No, I’m not Billy Graham, with opportunities for great influence in many of the world’s largest arenas.
And no, I’m not Meryl Streep, with brightly-lit stages from which to speak and affect the masses.
I’m just an ordinary person, trying to live my simple little life in full obedience to Jesus Christ. I live in relative obscurity, doing the little things I am inspired to do each day as I study the Scriptures and those things Jesus told us to do.
With the small resources I have, I can only do so much, but I can do something.
This morning the idea came to my mind, Think about the one.
Jesus always stopped along his travels to minister to individuals, and maybe I can think in those terms too.
So, I ponder on that one precious African girl I saw recently in a news report. Just a toddler, she’s crying and she’s suffering. Every bone of her tiny body is showing through her sagging skin, her belly is horribly distended, and she’s obviously dying of starvation.
What if my small funds were the provision for one meal for her? What if that meal bought her a few more hours of life? What if those additional hours gave her the ability to hang on until the next donor’s meal arrived? What if she gradually, little by little, put pounds back on? What if she grew in strength and health and stayed alive until the next missionary passed through her village? What if she was well enough by that time to hear and understand the gospel message? What if she decided then to follow Jesus the rest of her life? What if she ultimately attained eternal life through the tiny sequential acts of donors?
What if?
I can almost picture her radiant, smiling face years later. Her body is strong and restored to health. Her skin is healthy and glowing. She’s become a beautiful young woman, who now knows and loves Jesus. She knows her future is secure regardless of what happens in her area of the world.
She can rejoice because her name has been written in Heaven.
Yes, I can do the little things, and I will.
It’s never a wasted effort to give what I can for the one.
What tiny ways have you found to give and make a difference in our world? Please share below in the comments section. Perhaps together we can make a lasting change.