One

One

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?

AS LIZZIE AND I walked the path around our local park, her meandering recollecting stopped me short: “I got into ALA by one point. I still remember having to sit in the hallway last year to take the test. It was so noisy with classes walking by and people talking. I prayed I could do well enough to get in.”

My daughter is in Advanced Language Arts at her middle school, and it is her favorite class. Her teacher grades hard, expects a lot, and is adored. I hear more stories about that class than all of the rest combined.

One. Measly. Point. Many of her favorite memories this year, some of her best school experiences to date, and access to an incredible teacher who knows when to push and how—all of it because of one point. I’d forgotten how stressful those few weeks had been as we waited to hear if she would be accepted. How I’d prayed, knowing she needed a win after a really rough school year.

How often do we forget the power of one, assuming that we are too small, too weak, too little equipped to make a difference and, so believing, don’t? We quit before we’ve tried, convinced that our contribution could not possibly matter.

But God knows the power of one. One decision, one action, one conversation, one point on a test makes all the difference in a life. He left the ninety-nine for one. Do not be fooled into thinking that world changing requires grand gestures and gobs of resources. God will use grand gestures and unlimited resources, certainly, but he also uses ordinary girls living in Nowheresville, if we let him.

Lord, use us as world changers! May we see others through your eyes, meeting a need, giving an encouraging word, smiling as we hold open a door. Help us to see the one you send our way today. Amen.

-Julie

One Good Step: Ask God for one daily assignment. Keep track of your assignments on a calendar, watching how powerfully God works through one small thing.