What Can One Person Do?: More Than We Know

By Elisabeth K. Corcoran

“I look at the enormity of the problem and I can’t help but think, ‘what can one person do?’” Not only did I used to think that way, but I used to allow that to be an excuse to paralyze me from action. But I don’t believe that lie anymore. One person can do much.

One person can pray with all she’s got, begging God to intervene in any situation, to pour out his power, to give her wisdom to know what she can and should do.

One person can give of her time in a way that will be a sacrifice to her and of great benefit to others.

One person can give money…even a little bit of money…and that can be added to what others have given and then multiplied when God steps in.

One person can call attention to an issue that is usually talked about in hushed tones…making people aware of something they may have had no idea about.

One person can enter into the darkness, carrying her little bit of light, and shed great illumination where only dim shadows used to dwell.

One person can touch another person’s life in small ways – with a kind word, a gentle touch, a moment of time to listen and hold and cry with.

One person can take her gifts and pour them out into someone else’s life, knowing that freely has she received and freely should she give.

One person can take her hurt and ask Christ to turn it into a blessing as she connects with the pain of another hurting heart.

One person can move into another person’s life in large ways – with a shout against injustice, a rallying of a group to do something of meaning, a hand reaching out to draw someone out of their circumstances permanently.

We’re told time and again that we as women have the ability to set the tone of our homes and our communities. That our daughters will learn how to be women and mothers by watching and modeling after us, and that our sons will grow up to look for wives that mirror their mothers. Our neighbors will look to us and see if Jesus is real by what we choose to spend our lives on.

We have been given not just the ability, but the responsibility, to do great good. One life at a time. In our homes. In our communities. And in our world.

Today can be the day that we allow our one life to do a world of good in someone else’s life.

What can one person do in comparison to the vastness of our world’s problems? So very much. Each moment of light can dispel a lifetime of darkness, because light wins out every time.

“You are the light of the world. . . let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5: 14, 16

Elisabeth Corcoran is the author of At the Corner of Broken & Love: Where God Meets Us in the Everyday (Westbow), One Girl, Third World: One Woman’s Journey into Social Justice (Kindle, Amazon), He Is Just That Into You: Stories of a Faithful God who Pursues, Engages, and Has No Fear of Commitment (WinePress), In Search of Calm: Renewal for a Mother’s Heart (Xulon), and Calm in My Chaos: Encouragement for a Mom’s Weary Soul (Kregel). All these books can be purchased on Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle. She is a proud member of the Redbud Writers’ Guild. Visit her at www.elisabethcorcoran.com.