When feeling insignificant, remember this....

                                                      Photo by Pedro Lastra on Unsplash

The world has billions of people all doing their own thing.  Some get recognized for their efforts and some don’t. Those of us who don’t may feel insignificant. We may think, "What have I got to offer?" We feel small in this space populated with so many people (past and present). And all we want to do is make a mark on the world... we want our lives to matter.  However, we are overwhelmed when we think of the amount of people who have, now, and will live. So many that it is comparable to the sand of the sea: countless.

In a culture caught up in competition and comparison, we may feel that even though we may have talents and abilities, what we have to offer is not good enough. I felt this way. I was always the shy girl in to corner that nobody noticed. I felt that my ideas, comments, actions, and accomplishments didn’t matter. And worse, I lived like I believed it. Last year I wrote a song called “My Gethsemane” that describes that very feeling. In the third verse I wrote:

Now on Earth, not sure of the task

The trial and strain I desperately mask

Am I of worth in this great plan?

Faith and trust, do not know if I can

My downfall? Lack of faith and trust.  Just like most of us, I have been hurt many times in my life. However, I allowed my lack of faith and trust to weaken with every hurt. I didn't trust people or situations and therefore didn't believe I was wanted. I allowed myself to feel more and more insignificant each time I faced a failure or rejection. This thinking only hurt me because it wasn't true. I was slowly self-destructing not giving myself a chance to reach my full potential. That is, until I came to realize something very important: All I am and do does matters.

I learned that to leave your mark in the world, you start with just one person.

A few years ago, I received a gift from the school district I was working for. It was a key chain shaped as a starfish with the words "One Person Can Make a Difference." Inside the box, was the following story:

One morning a man walked along a beach covered with thousands of starfish that had washed up during a storm. Now they lay dying in the sun. He saw a young girl picking up the starfish one by one and tossing them into the sea. As he approached her he count't help but ask, "Why bother? There are too many of them. You won't make much of a difference." She picked up another starfish and tossed it into the water. Then she turned to the man and said, "I made a difference to that one."

As we go through life, we never know who we influence. I think we don't truly grasp the reality of the difference we make. This past year I taught a student who was struggling. I decided to look at the situation as an opportunity to treat someone with love, patience, and hope. Some days were tough and others were good. At the end of the year, I read from his mother how through my choices to treat him as Christ would, I did more that I realized. She wrote:

"Miss Ward has taken my son who started kindergarten at level zero because he was so delayed. My son is now on track and ready to end the year above where he should be. I have watched him grow and learn so much from Miss Ward and I couldn't ask for a better teacher to teach my son. She has made a major impact on my family's life and we can't tell her enough how much we appreciate her."

It humbles me each time I read these sweet words this mother wrote. Again it starts with just one....

Christ, our Savior and great example, never allowed feelings of insignificance stop him from loving on each person, one at a time. He knew who he was and the importance of his service. At the beginning of his mortal ministry Jesus returned to his home town to minister to, or serve, his people. While hearing a sermon, he stood up and declared He was the Messiah. The people could and would not believe what he was saying.  Wasn't he the carpenter Joseph's son? However, he continued to serve to those who would allow him to. He focused on one person at a time.

The world has us thinking we need recognition to have any kind of significance in this world. It tells us that in order to be someone we must win at competition and be loved by all. However, Christ taught us different. He taught that it is by the small and simple acts of love that we truly make a difference in this world. When you show love one by one, you can feel the true impact you have in this world because to that "one", you just may have changed their world.