One Small Act

Dan and I have been in full-time ministry for 31 years and have served in a variety of settings. We have been in inner city ministry, rural ministry and now in a small city setting. We have served in parachurch ministry, church planting and now in an established church.

Each ministry brings it's own set of challenges. Each ministry setting has brought us joy and at times, sorrow. I think some of the reason I've struggled with depression this year is that I've started to believe the lie that we aren't making a difference. As we've gotten older, it's easy to start feeling like we are becoming obsolete, and that it's almost time to be put out to pasture.

Logically I know that is not accurate, but there are days when I feel useless. However, God in His goodness has sent me little reminders over the past couple of weeks that we have made a difference in many lives. And we still have work to do. We still have people to minister to and care for. No matter how old we get, there is still work to do.

I've received a couple of random texts, phone calls and emails from people in our past ministries, letting us know what an impact we had on them. They have told us that we have made a difference and their lives have changed for the better because of us. It's strange that these have come out of the blue and I can only attribute it to God knowing I needed some encouragement.

A couple of these were situations or incidents that I have long forgotten about. But it meant something to that person. It pointed them to the Lord. It impacted them deeply.

Why am I sharing this here? Because some of you may feel like your life is meaningless and you have no real ministry to anyone. But you never know whom your life will touch. Some small act of kindness may make a huge difference to someone else.

Your small kindness may go unnoticed by the world. You may never have a huge and prominent ministry. You may not be successful in the world's eyes. But when you connect with another and touch another person's life, you are noticed by the Lord. Your kindness is noticed by the person to whom it helps. 

So never feel like you have no role to play. Never feel like you are unimportant or meaningless. God sees, He notices and He is cheering you on.

That little act of kindness may be the spark that lights someone's world and turns their life around. So keep on shining your light!