Changing the World

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you were to make a list of people who have made a difference in the world, who would you include?

I recently posed that question to a large group of high school students at a summer camp. Their list included many names you would expect, plus a few surprises.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Benjamin Franklin
Rosa Parks
George Washington
Elvis Presley
Alexander Graham Bell
Oprah Winfrey
and many, many others

Those same students also created a list of people who have made a negative difference in the world.

Hitler
Stalin
Osama bin Laden
Saddam Hussein
Rosie O’Donnell (seriously, her name came up more than once!)

Let’s assume that a hundred years from now, someone else is making a list of people who have made a positive difference in the world, and your name is added to the list. Why would your name be included on a list of people who have changed the world for the better?

Let me ask that a different way. If you could accomplish any one task … if you could be successful at any one endeavor that would make a positive difference in the world, what would you choose to do? No project is too big. Assume that you will be successful. Assume that the money and resources and manpower that are needed to accomplish your task will be provided. What would you do to make the world a better place? I challenge you to think about that, and even write down your “big idea”.

Look back at the list of people who have already made a positive difference in the world. They all have two things in common:

  1. They are human beings (duh!).
  2. Whatever they did that changed the world, it started out simply as an idea.

Guess what! You share those same two characteristics. You are a human being (duh!). And you have an idea for something you would like to do to make the world a better place to live. So, if they succeeded, what’s to keep you from succeeding? I can answer that question: NOTHING! I’ll prove it to you.

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Luke 1:37 says, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

Did you hear God’s promises? As long as what you want to accomplish fits God’s will for your life, and as long as you look to Him for strength, you can do it! No matter how big your dream is, no matter how unrealistic it may seem, God looks at it and says, “I can do that. No problem!” You cannot out-imagine God’s ability to make it happen. His power is “exceedingly abundantly” greater than your wildest imagination. He can do immeasurably more than the biggest thing you can possibly think of. Nothing is impossible for God.

So, that big dream you have for how you want to change the world — piece of cake! As long as it fits with God’s will for your life, and as long as you look to God for your strength, there is no limit to what He can accomplish through you!

How bad do you want it? How serious are you about wanting to make the world a better place? Are you willing to turn it over to God and seriously ask Him to show you how to make it happen, and to help you make it happen? What if your dream of changing the world really does fit God’s will for your life? Are you willing to walk through the doors of opportunity that He will open for you? Those are questions you need to answer. What if the only thing God is waiting for is for you to bring Him your idea? Are you ready?
Paul O'Rear Signature

Photo Credit:

  1. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Marion S. Trikosko, U.S. News & World Report (Wikipedia), Public Domain.