Just One Person

How many times have you heard someone say, “I’m just one person, it won’t make a difference?” I’m sure most of us, if not all of us, have heard it or said it at some point in our lives. The real facts are that one person can indeed make a difference. What type of difference depends on the person and the situation.

On Sunday when I was riding, one person almost made a very big difference in many lives due to his reckless driving. I was going along at 55 mph which was the posted speed limit for the road I was on. I saw a vehicle pull out to pass someone and he was headed straight towards me. Fortunately there was nobody directly behind me so I hit the brakes hard, as did the vehicle this man was trying to pass. The vehicle he was trying to pass came almost to a complete stop in order for the passer to cut back in front of them and avoid hitting me or them. This one person could very well have affected the lives of everyone he knew, I knew, and the other car’s passengers as well. God protected us all and for that I am extremely grateful.

Everyone’s actions and words every day have the potential to affect others. I discovered that this site I use to ramble on keeps statistics on certain things. I learned that since I started this blog in June it has been viewed close to 1500 times by people all over the world in 13 different countries! That blows my mind honestly. Do you still think that what one person says or does won’t make a difference? Now I’m not saying I have made a difference in all of those views, but if even one person who viewed was impacted in some way, that’s making a difference.

God has given me the gift of writing this blog. I don’t know why and I don’t know who it affects. I do know that it has affected me since I started it. It has made me appreciate my alone time with Him more when I ride. I absolutely love listening to music and obviously I love riding my bike. This past week-end I decided it made sense to then combine the 2 loves. I put in my earbud, turned on some music from my phone and set off to ride. Well that’s where thinking on my own proved very wrong. I hadn’t gone 5 miles and I had to stop, turn off the music, and remove my earbud. Listening to music while riding was interfering with my alone time with God, even though it was Gospel music I was listening to. It was keeping my mind on the music, not on my direct line to God. I couldn’t hear Him or talk to Him, due to the outside interference of the music.

My praising Him through music is now done at home and in my car, and my time on the bike is set aside totally to take in the beauty of my surroundings and my intimate time alone with Him. Once I took out the ear buds, I noticed the beautiful blue sky, the lush green of the evergreen trees, the vibrant orange, yellow, and red leaves from the trees changing colors. I also noticed the blanket of white from the cotton fields that reminded me of the chorus in the song; Jesus Paid it All –

” ‘Cause Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow”

Jesus was one man, and He made a difference for us all.

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The next time you hear someone say that they are just one person, what difference will it make, tell them it may make all the difference in the world to someone. The next time you think that you don’t matter or make a difference, remember that’s not true. If you are still alive and breathing then it’s for a reason. God can and will use you to make a difference to someone. You may not even know you are making a difference, but I assure you that your are. There is only one you, and you can have an affect on others if you will only obey and follow what He guides you to do or say. If you don’t, you will still make a difference, it just may not be the difference He wants, good or bad it will be a difference.

Ephesians 2:8-10

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Romans 12:2