If I Can Make a Difference

I don't know if you've ever heard the story of the boy and the starfish. But it recently came to my mind.

Many starfish washed up on shore one morning. A young boy started picking them up and throwing them back into the ocean. Someone saw what he was doing and told him that it was pointless, that there were too many to save, that it really wouldn’t make a difference. Throwing another starfish into the sea, the little boy responded, “It makes a difference to this one.”

It is easy for us to go through life doing nothing, because we think there is nothing of importance to do. We may say that there is no way we can "save all those starfish". But I think it is more about the little things we do, than the big things. If we continue to do the next -maybe small, hard, or seemingly piontless- thing, and we do it as unto the LORD, although we may not see, we are making a difference.

"The greatest mistake is to do nothing because you can only do a little."
-Sydney Smith

One verse my mom likes to recite to us is Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." We need to give 100% in whatever we do. Even those "pointless" tasks. Those are often the most important of all because those "small" things are what make us ready for the "big" things. Didn't Jesus say "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much."(Lk 16:10) We must not, in thinking about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make. Over time, they will add up to big differences that we more often than not are unable to foresee.

I recently read this quote: "It is during adversity when one can really make a big difference. But making a difference is not about being a big hero. It is simply about leaving the bathroom a little cleaner going out, than when you came in." I do not know who said it but I thought that it fit right in with what I was saying.

This is a hard lesson to learn. But when we remember to keep it in the perspective that GOD is the One giving us these "small" or tedious tasks to do, we should be willing to surrender our all to Him - always.

Just because you can not do everything, does not mean you cannot do something. Do something today to bless someone else. Do all that you do today with your wholeheart, do it as unto the LORD.