The Power of One

The Boy and the Starfish                

A man was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked he could see a young boy in the distance, as he drew nearer he noticed that the boy kept bending down, picking something up and throwing it into the water.

 

Time and again he kept hurling things into the ocean. As the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time he was throwing them back into the water. The man asked the boy what he was doing, the boy replied,"I am throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or else they will die through lack of oxygen. "But", said the man, "You can't possibly save them all, there are thousands on this beach, and this must be happening on hundreds of beaches along the coast. You can't possibly make a difference."

 

The boy looked down, frowning for a moment; then bent down to pick up another starfish, smiling as he threw it back into the sea. He replied, 

 

"I made a huge difference to that one!"

 

  ~Author Unknown~

A friend and I had a discussion today and it left me with a troubled heart.

 

It centered around the trouble that is all around us and no one seems to be doing anything to help. She shared pictures from the Holocaust and brought to remembrance of how for years, nothing was done to help.

 

We...as a country...sat idle by and let people perish.

 

She asked the question that echos in all of our hearts, “What can we do when no one will listen?”

 

What can we do?

 

I am a single, senior aged woman.

 

What can I do?

 

Well, Lynette....ALOT!

 

History is full of examples of people who made a difference, just because they were willing to be used.

 

Corrie tenBoom was about my age when she joined the Harlem Underground. She, her sister, and aged father helped to save hundreds of Jews during the dark days of the Holocaust. She later traveled the world sharing a message of love, peace, and forgiveness through Christ.

 

Eric Liddell refused to run a race. The world’s eyes were placed on the man who chose obedience to God over the praise of man.

 

Countless people credit their salvation to the prayers of their mother.

 

Amy Carmichael cut the fingernails of thousands of little Chinese children.

 

A bus driver picked me up for church each Sunday morning.

 

This is just a very few examples.

 

What can I do? 

 

What have I done TODAY?

 

 

And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. Matthew 10:42