3 Ways to Completely Change the World
In 2018, our family moved into a rental house in a neighboring city. We felt drawn to the area and the idea of moving there truly felt right as we wanted to build a house in the area. The mere fact of us finding that house to rent for a year was a miraculous thing. The area and time we were looking in was not favorable to renters and our family’s urgent situation to find suitable housing ahead of the new school year wasn’t making things any easier. Yet in our hour of dire need, a divinely orchestrated series of events led us to a house owned by strangers who also considered it a miracle to find a use for the house they had got stuck with due to unforeseen circumstances.
Shortly after moving in, we had determined a need to improve our online presence for our business. We needed someone who knew something about web design and programming. Lo and behold, we came to discover a neighbor a few doors down from our new house was willing and able to help us do just this. He was a God-send that pushed us down the path we needed to go to better refine our business plan in addition to our website design. Was this just a coincidence that we happened to be placed in just the right location to find someone who could help us with our business?
Our son loves the outdoors and had struggled to adjust to the idea of moving. Located near our the house we were renting was a golf course; I didn't have much passion for golfing. But my son loves any sport with a ball. Was it a coincidence then that he later meets another one of our neighbors who learns of his desire to golf and happens to have a set of golf clubs he was willing to give away?
I’ve heard a quote once:
We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next door neighbor.
-Gilbert K Cheserton
I propose that God has an even more involved hand in who we interact with even beyond our next door neighbors. What about our co-workers? Have you ever considered God led you to a particular company and a particular position because of the people you would interact with? What if God wanted you to be there to help one of His children or maybe He knew one of them would help you? I’ve asked myself that question many times over the years, because I’ve wondered why He had led me down the career path He did and how I had ended up at the companies I worked for.
Think about it for a moment. There are 7.7 billion people in the world and 328 million in the US alone. Going estimates suggest that we only interact on average with 12 people per day. I’m no math wiz, but 12 is a much smaller number than 7.7 billion or even 328 million. So how do you make a difference in the world? I suggest that you do not need to become a Mother Theresa or a Martin Luther King to do that. Here are 3 ways for you to completely change the world:
Consider every social interaction with any person each day to be a divinely orchestrated opportunity.
Every experience we have with another person can completely change that person’s life trajectory. It could be something as simple as a smile you give them or it could be something as significant as saving their life, physically or spiritually. Plus, those 12 daily interactions add up quickly. Some estimate we can meet upwards of 80,000 people in our lives. How will they remember you? I love the words of the Lord’s servant Ammon who said, “blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land...God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth” (Alma 26:36-27). God is aware of you and is mindful of you. He is also mindful of those you meet too. Maybe He wants you to connect in that tiny space of earth you both are on together.
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Always consider those you interact with as having a problem you can help them solve.
Jesus gave us the parable of the good samaritan for many reasons. One of which was to show us the good that can come from selfless service to others. Yes, it was so loving that the samaritan “as he journeyed, came where [the wounded and beaten man] was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him” (Luke 10:33 - 34). Yes, the wounded and beaten man was the one with the obvious problem who he could help. What about the innkeeper? Maybe the innkeeper was in financial struggles and the samaritan generous money left to care for the wounded man was exactly what he needed to sustain his business. Or better yet, maybe the samaritan’s selfless act of love was exactly what the innkeeper needed to see to prove to him that there is good in the world. Imagine now, how his life would change because of the efforts the samaritan did on behalf of a man of Jerusalem whom he had all the reason to despise. Consider all the visitors to the innkeepers’ inn who he might treat a little differently because of this experience and who he might influence. The possibilities of impact become limitless.
Give thanks to God for those you meet and pray for their well-being.
Paul said, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving thanks, be made for all men” (1 Timothy 2:1). There is a power that happens in prayer, particularly prayers of gratitude. As you pray to give thanks for the interactions with others you had that day, you will be filled with “a greater perspective on the very purpose and joy of life” (President Russell M. Nelson). As you pray for their well being and joy, miracles will occur in their life just as it will in yours. Remember that Jesus Christ himself said, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22). That is a powerful promise from the Son of God but there are some conditions in it that require effort on our part.
If you’ve read this article, you’ve probably wanted to make a difference in the world at least some point in your life. I share with you my affirmation that you can do just that through the grace and power of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will lead you to see how your daily interactions with others leave indelible impressions, how your desires to help them solve their problems will bless their lives and how the power of prayer will result in miracles that will amaze you. The world will completely change around you for the better.
