Charles Swindoll (evangelical Christian pastor, author, educator and radio preacher) tells of a businessman and his wife, busy to the point of exhaustion. Needing a break, they escaped for a few days of relaxation at an ocean-front hotel. One night a violent storm lashed the beach and sent giant waves beating against the shore. As he lay in bed the man thought of his own somewhat stormy life.
The wind finally abated and as the new day dawned the man went to the beach to see what damage had been done. As he walked along he saw that the beach was covered with starfish which had been thrown ashore and stranded. He knew that they would not survive the heat of the sun later in the day.
Then the man saw a young boy who had also seen the plight of the starfish and was picking them up, one at a time, and flinging them back into the sea.
“Why are you doing that?” he asked, as soon as he was close enough to be heard. “Can’t you see that one person will never make a difference – you’ll never be able to get all those starfish back into the water. There are just too many.”
“Yes, that’s true,” the boy replied as he bent over and picked up another and tossed it into the water. Then as he watched it sinking below the surface he looked at the man, smiled and said, “But I did make a difference to that one!”
Although we can’t change the world overnight we’ve all got what it takes to make a difference where we are. Instead of wringing our hands we can put them to work. That way, instead of being part of the problem, we’ll be part of the answer, even if only in a small way.
– Wesley Harris, You’ve What It Takes
