How Much Difference Can One Person Make?

I have often heard people say, "How much difference can one person really make?" I think if people were honest they would say that one of the things they desire most in life is to feel wanted and needed. To feel like they make a difference.

The world we live in sometimes makes it hard for us to have an impact. If we don't look or dress a certain way, have the right amount of education or come from the right kind of background we can at times be made to feel that what we think or have to say is of little or no importance and it can be hard to get anyone to pay attention to us.

However, recent events in our nation show just how important one person can be. The Iowa caucuses are proof that one person's values and opinions are very important. Or to be more specific, 8 people's.

By now everyone knows that only 8 votes in the WHOLE STATE of Iowa seperated the top two candidates in the recent state caucuses. 8 votes! In the whole state! If that isn't a perfect example of one person making a difference than I don't know what is.

The Bible is full of individuals who made big differences in the world around them. Everyone laughed at David when he said he would fight Goliath. That is until he killed him. Moses didn't think he could go before Pharoah but he did and he led the nation of Israel out of Egypt. Gideon was hiding when the Lord came to him but went on to do great things. Everyone thought Noah was insane for building a huge boat. That is until it rained. On the flip side, what about Hitler? Talk about one person making a huge difference in the world and not a good difference!

We all have ideas, dreams and convictions. Things we want to say but feel like we don't have an outlet to share those things. Sometimes that is true but a lot of times it could be that we overlook some very obvious ways to impact the world around us. I relate this post to the election because this is one of the hot topics right now.

For many years I've heard people give different reasons for not voting. Some say things like,
"One vote isn't going to make a difference" others say something like, "The Lord has everything under control and whatever he wants to have happen will happen so I just need to stay out of it." I want so bad to ask these people, "And just exactly how do you think the Lord works in these situations?" Does he rig the election? I mean, seriously, how is something like an election going to "magically" end up the way God wants it to?

If you are of this line of thinking then consider this. How does God's work on earth get accomplished? If everything just happened the way God wants it to happen then there would have never been original sin and we wouldn't be dealing with things like abortion, murder, rape, theft, lying, cheating, corruption, etc.

The truth of the matter is that God uses US, His people, to bring about His kingdom on earth and most of the time we do a poor job of it. And if you think that it's must be God's will to have people in office who stand for things that are in direct opposition to the things He desires then you should think again. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:2, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan." That tells me that God cares about things like politics which means that we should care about them too.

God's kingdom will not come on this earth until we His people bring it. And one of the ways we bring it is by getting involved in things like elections where we are privileged enough to have a voice and take a stand for what is right. All over the world there are people who wish they had the rights that so many of us take for granted. People in other countries are rising up and revolting for the opportunity to have the voice that many of us don't even use.

As our primary elections are underway and the general election approaches, consider what you can do to make your voice heard. Get out there and vote. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." You might be surprised how much difference one person can make.