"Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." ~Margaret Mead
I was sitting talking with some friends today about the negative effects that we have observed of the Korean educational system. And, while I think it highly unlikely that any of us could ever change that system in the span of our entire lives, even if we wanted to, it also got me thinking about what exactly it is that does cause big changes in our society and beyond.
So many people think, "oh, I'm just one person. I have no influence. What could I possibly do to affect the entire world?" But just think, what would happen if everyone adopted that attitude? Nothing would ever happen. Why? Because change starts with us. More specifically, change starts with me. It starts with you. Mother Teresa was only one person. Steve Jobs was only one person. Mozart, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus, Helen Keller, Henry Ford...all of them were only one person. Of course, that goes the opposite way, as well. Hilter and Stalin were individual people, too.
The point is, "I'm just 1 person" should never be an excuse to not try to make a difference. God doesn't want us to wait for someone else to move, to wait for someone else to do the dirty work and then just follow along behind, holding onto their coattails. It starts with you. Be the change that you want to see in the world.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
I was sitting talking with some friends today about the negative effects that we have observed of the Korean educational system. And, while I think it highly unlikely that any of us could ever change that system in the span of our entire lives, even if we wanted to, it also got me thinking about what exactly it is that does cause big changes in our society and beyond.
So many people think, "oh, I'm just one person. I have no influence. What could I possibly do to affect the entire world?" But just think, what would happen if everyone adopted that attitude? Nothing would ever happen. Why? Because change starts with us. More specifically, change starts with me. It starts with you. Mother Teresa was only one person. Steve Jobs was only one person. Mozart, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus, Helen Keller, Henry Ford...all of them were only one person. Of course, that goes the opposite way, as well. Hilter and Stalin were individual people, too.
The point is, "I'm just 1 person" should never be an excuse to not try to make a difference. God doesn't want us to wait for someone else to move, to wait for someone else to do the dirty work and then just follow along behind, holding onto their coattails. It starts with you. Be the change that you want to see in the world.
Acts 12:1-19
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3
When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to
seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened
Bread. 4 After arresting
him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads
of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial
after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
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