Genesis 12:2 "... I will bless you... and make you a blessing to others."
INTRO - A STORY
One day on a beach, after the tide had rolled in and out, thousands of starfish were washed up onto the sand, laying there dying in the sun (starfish die if left on the sand and out of water for too long). But there was a boy there that was trying to save some of them. There were thousands of them, and he was rushing around throwing as many as he could back into the water. A man walked up to him and said, "Boy, you can't save all these starfish! They're dying. You don't need to do that, what difference does it make?" As the boy tossed the next one into the water, he replied to the man, "It made a difference to that one."
Our sinful nature has a wrong tendency to glorify works that are large and impressive, and despise what is not a 'great' and 'big' work in our eyes.
I have seen at times the temptation to overlook times I can do good, because the opportunities don't seem great enough, or significant enough.
Like the boy in this story, there's a precious value to blessing 1 or 2 individuals at a time that many people will overlook. And we can find a precious calling that we can have when we see that Jesus teaches and even exercises a similar quality many times (the lost sheep, the good Samaritan, dining with Zaccheus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the Syrophoenician woman he traveled so far for...) that a Christlike heart of love doesn't despise the "one" just because it's "only 1 person."
A PERSONAL EXAMPLE
I remember one time at a grocery store a stranger did something kind for me in passing, and my heart softened in that moment, and I felt burdened for lost people in a way that I have rarely felt. I figured, "Much of the world is like this person, and most likely this person is unsaved and doesn't know the Lord." And I was burdened that there's such darkness in the world and lack of light. And so few to give it. And I was thinking how most people will never even know or hear the real truth. People know generally "about" Jesus, but not really.
But God spoke to my heart, something like this: "You can't save the world, but what stops you from praying for this one stranger? Is that not precious? Can't I answer your prayer?"
And it gave me faith to pray with a soft heart and conviction for this one stranger who showed me a kind act. I prayed the Lord would do a work of the Holy Spirit in their heart. I don't know whatever happened to that person, but I believe that somehow or another, God will definitely answer that prayer.
And I realized - we don't have to focus on trying to be everything to everyone, or do some amazing miraculous outward ministry for thousands of people. Most of us don't have that calling. But ALL of us can be faithful with the few people God puts in our path and puts on our heart. It's possible we are the only 1 person in the world praying for that other person.
I saw that I shouldn't despise building up one or two people.
Heb 3:13 says encourage ONE another daily (it can be even just ONE!).
1 Corinthians 14 talks about encouraging (prophesying) to build others up. As a church we do this, and I praise God He has given us this emphasis to have opportunities in our church that we can do this regularly, and every committed member has a chance to do this multiple times per week among our family in the Lord.
But we may think in the church, "What can I do because I'm not called to preach like these others with a great preaching gift?" Very few people are called to a large preaching ministry. But everyone can find at least 1 or 2 people in the church who may have a burden for at the current time, and help to encourage them deeply and consistently, and help lift up their needs to the Lord in prayer. To let them know God loves them, and Jesus is with them, and they're not alone. Many times one person saying this from their heart directly to another person can go deeper in them in a way that hearing it in a public message can't. And in many ways, this can be even more valuable than a wide-reaching ministry.
And here's the great thing: it's free to give encouragement, it doesn't cost us anything - and every one of us can do it!
You may be now trying to think of in the church who you can encourage, and that's good. But in addition to that, don't forget the 'mission field' of your home! For those of us with families, the Lord has made the vast portion of our ministry very personal - to our spouse and children. It's just a few people, but do you think anyone else in the world can pray for your spouse and children like you do? Nobody else in the world can pray like you can, with the depth of burden you have for your family. It's a high calling you have.
So don't despise one-on-one ministry, or what the world may think of as 'small'. You can be such an encouragement and help to build a few individuals up in Christ, and that is a very great work, because it's the specific work God gave you. God has a great purpose and plan for you to help build others up to the 'fullness' of Christ (Col 1:28, Eph 4:13). Don't think that there's not a plan God has to use you just because it isn't in big numbers! Is God more about quantity than quality? If He was, then even Jesus' ministry would have been considered a failure with only a few disciples after 3 years of miracles and even rising from the dead!
Think for a moment about all the things that have blessed you and helped you the most to be built up in the Lord up until today. I believe that many of those things, if you look back, were people who were directly in your life, sowing into you individually. Words of guidance, or encouragement, or just being present. Or someone sharing their testimony privately with you and impacting your life so much. Or someone supporting you during a deep trial, telling you to press on, helping you to put things in eternity's perspective, telling you that you are not alone, and telling you that there is always hope - you can overcome in Jesus!
Individual care and strengthening like this that people have given me over the last 30-40 years has been a tremendous part of my personal growth in Jesus over the years.
See Jesus' heart, which is burdened that others would have this heart - not only for 'missionaries' or 'preachers', but 'shepherds' (who care individually, as a shepherd cares for individual sheep):
Matt 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 9:37 Then He *said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 9:38 "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."
He felt compassion on these people because they were like sheep with no shepherd, distressed and dispirited.
So many are dispirited. They are distressed. Everyone has personal trials that you don't know about. Perhaps more than you realize, perhaps deeper than you realize. And they need encouragement.
They need shepherds: encouragers, ones to help carry burdens, feeding the word (sharing verses).
The church can have many shepherds. You don’t have to be everything to everyone, or be the shepherd for the whole church - see if the Lord lays 1 or 2 or a few people especially on your heart to have a special care for. Commit to pray for them. Go out of your way to encourage them, and 'put yourself in their shoes' to consider their situation, to be able to sympathize with them (Php 2:4, Rom 12:15).
CONCLUSION
God has a great plan for your life. And I believe in part of that plan for each of us exists a very high calling: to bless a small number of people that God has put in your circle to build up into Christlikeness. Not just to save the lost, but also to build up those who are already in Christ. This is no less of a calling! As I've read the New Testament, to me this actually seems to be emphasized even more than evangelizing the lost.
May the Lord continue to make us into a church who does not lust after numbers like the world - but one which values, loves and cares for the individuals, not just the 'big numbers'. But to build each other up "until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." (Eph 4:13)