I just finished listening to the book "Kisses From Katie" during my drive home for Christmas break. The author, Katie Davis, makes a comment that sometimes doing mission work resembles the task of "emptying the ocean with a eyedropper…and every time I get a cupful, it rains". It is hard not to become completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of how many people have not heard the Gospel. Difficult to swallow the unfathomable count of children who daily die of starvation. Nearly impossible not to close my eyes to the amount of orphans in the world.
However, I think there is something even more disturbing disturbing than these statistics. It is that we need statistics to push us into action in the first place.
Let me explain.
I have grown increasingly apathetic to individuals. Most of you have as well. When we think of ministry we judge effectiveness by the number of people being reached or the amount of people being fed. There is nothing inherently wrong in this; good stewardship does involve utilizing the resources God has given to the very best of our abilities. It's natural to want to reach the most with what we have. The problem is when we start seeing the world as composed of statistics instead of individuals.
We have been raised in a generation where we are taught that everyone can make a big difference. One person can have a domino effect and change the world for thousands of others. This is true. In fact, this logic is Biblical and many times God used one person like David, Samuel or Mary to be the redemptive change in their generations.
But there is a danger I see in this, a trap we can easily fall into where we become so caught up in effecting the large numbers of people, of seeing ministry on a large scale, that we lose sight of people themselves. All of the sudden, if we won't get a "significant" result from our efforts, why even bother? If we won't make a big difference then what's the point?
But who are we to determine the worth of our time and resources? What if we have it all backwards and our time and resources aren't worth as much as we think? What if the reality is that if we spent everything we had emotionally, spiritually and physically and just one person was reached, it would all be worth it.
Even the Son of God knew He would not heal every sick person, restore every blind eye, feed every hungry belly, raise up every dead person or touch every bleeding woman. Jesus' world was not made of of statistics. No one was a waste of His time or resources even though this meant that some did not get healed, touched or fed.
Perhaps sometimes we look so far ahead to the big picture that we miss the faces that are in such close proximity to ours.
It's God's job to change to the world. Not ours.
At work I look down at the little girl clinging to my leg. I pick her up. Today is her day.
I drive by Walmart after school and see a homeless woman by the side of the road holding up a cardboard sign. I pull over. Today is her day.
I am washing dishes at the bathroom sink in my dorm when another college student walks by with evidence of tears on her cheeks. I dry my hands. Today is her day.
I apply for an internship in Ghana, praying in advance for the children I will be working with. This summer is their summer.
And someday, I will be walking along the streets of Africa daily and will bend down to kiss a chocolate-colored face. That day will be her day.
"Working with the least of these is not a suggestion. It is a requirement." ~ Katie Davis
And through these days, these moments we empty the ocean, one drop at a time.
