The Legend of the Starfish

A vacationing businessman was walking along a beach when he saw a young boy. Along the shore were many starfish that had been washed up by the tide and were sure to die before the tide returned. The boy was walked slowly along the shore and occasionally reached down and tossed the beached starfish back into the ocean. The businessman, hoping to teach the boy a little lesson in common sense, walked up to the boy and said, "I have been watching what you are doing, son. You have a good heart, and I know you mean well, but do you realize how many beaches there are around here and how many starfish are dying on every beach every day. Surely such an industrious and kind hearted boy such as yourself could find something better to do with your time. Do you really think that what you are doing is going to make a difference?" The boy looked up at the man, and then he looked down at a starfish by his feet. He picked up the starfish, and as he gently tossed it back into the ocean, he said, "It makes a difference to that one."

I think most of us have seen this story before. It evokes a sweet emotional response the first time we read it. After that, it becomes just another in an endless stream of sweet stories.

The tagline of the story is "It makes a difference to that one." And I began to ponder on it for a few moments and it became much more meaningful to me in light of things that God is doing in my life currently.

Last week I read this post by Brother Abe_Juliot:

I went witnessing today. God really worked. He led me to people that where really open and ready to hear the gospel. It's a rare thing to find someone who quickly realizes they are a guilty sinner in desperate need of mercy, yet no one has ever took the time to preach the whole gospel to them. It makes me want to weep and sob. The thought, that there are billions of people in bondage to sin (against our Lord Jesus)... ought to bring great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. They love death, for they hate God! Should we not weep? There are so many people going to hell. I find that when I pray for people as if they are my own child, I am seriously grieved for them. I shared with around 10 people today. I imagine that they are my own children. That means 10 of my children are on their way to hell... 10 of my children are in bondage to sin!... 10 of my children are not walking with God! Oh, I imagine them when they where younger, maybe 5 years old... at an age that I could be a father or a nurse to them. I have 5 girls and 5 boys, dead in sin and going to hell! I cannot help but weep. Somebody please help me pray!

And the Lord grabbed my heart with those words. I had been guilty of putting people into categories of “the lost” and “the church” and “the lukewarm” and all the other categories we put people into. And I was forgetting to see how precious each soul was to Jesus.

This morning in church I spoke to a woman that sits in about the same area as I do and that I’ve had a few conversations with. She shared her sorrow over a son on drugs. I previously would have put her in the category of “the discouraged”. But today, I saw a beautiful woman of God whose heart was breaking. I shared with her how the Lord had saved me when I was in exactly the same situation her son is currently in. The Lord brought hope to her heart through my few little words and her whole countenance changed. It made a difference to that one.

Maybe that will become my new prayer – Lord Jesus, teach me to live my life on this earth like You did – making a difference in people’s lives, one by one.

BrokenOne wrote:

The Lord brought hope to her heart through my few little words and her whole countenance changed. It made a difference to that one.
Maybe that will become my new prayer – Lord Jesus, teach me to live my life on this earth like You did – making a difference in people’s lives, one by one.

Amen sister! I am very encouraged by your words and poems you've been posting! We are all God's vessels and we can serve Him and each other best when we just follow the guidance of His Spirit. When we just live in this constant abiding in Him, lead by Him in each moment. As our Lord Jesus said:

Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

May we be sensitive to the Lord's voice, departing from all iniquity and making ourselves continually available for Him!