I was at a small pond fishing and a raindrop fell to the pond. I noticed ripples from where it landed. I was at a large lake fishing and a raindrop fell to the lake. I noticed small ripples from where it landed. I was at the seashore and a raindrop fell into the sea. It disappeared into the calm sea.
My illustration is about my perception of my individual vote on any issue or candidate at election time. The pond is my local community. The lake is my state, and the sea, my country. The raindrop is my vote, my voice.
Whether it is our nation, a state, a local community, people want a voice. People want to be heard when it comes to decisions that affect taxes, the education of children, pollution, changes to the land and so on. People want to have a say in who governs over them. People want to have a voice at their workplace, where they shop, and even where they worship.
I can write a letter, sign a petition, cast my vote. Yet, I am still (at least in my mind) one single raindrop.
To carry my illustration further, I think about my place in the world. And going on one more step, where is my voice heard within the span of time, in the history of the world???
(In comparison, that raindrop in the sea is making quite a splash!)
What do you think would happen if I tried to phone the President of the United States? Do you think I could get through to my state governor? What if I wanted to speak with my city’s mayor...right now!? We know the answers.
Now, what if I called you at your workplace?
Even my wife is not always available when I call.
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This is what the Lord says who made the earth, the Lord who formed it in order to establish it—whose name is the Lord—“Call to me and I’ll answer you, and will tell you about great and hidden things that you don’t know.”
—Jeremiah 33:2–3 (ISV)
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.—Matthew 7:7–8 (ESV)
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith, without any doubts, for the one who has doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.—James 1:5–8 (ISV)
“Don’t be afraid, Daniel,” he told me, “because from the first day that you committed yourself to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I’ve come in answer to your prayers.”—Daniel 10:12 (ISV)
“Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God!”—Acts 10:31 (NLT)
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.—James 5:16 (NLT)
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I don’t give a lot of thought to that raindrop because...
The Creator of time and universe listens...
To one voice…
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Mark Stinnett
November 22, 2020
