ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes

“Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow — perhaps they all will.” (Ecclesiastes 11:6, TLB)

In the light of the tragic events of this past week and the heart-breaking suffering of so many families, I trust the following report will be an inspiration for us all … in that God can use every one of us as long as we make ourselves available to him.

“August 19, 2001 was the tenth anniversary of the final downfall of international communism in the Soviet Union. Some of you may remember that historic event. A group of Russian generals were determined to turn back the tide of democracy in that declining empire. They placed Mikhail Gorbachev under house arrest at his dacha outside of Moscow.

Meanwhile a tank rumbled into Red Square with the sole purpose of capturing second-in-command, Boris Yeltsin. But Yeltsin did something quite extraordinary. Instead of acquiescing to his captors, he leaped atop the tank and welcomed the tank commander over to the side of democracy.

“Later the tank commander reported that, up to this point, he had no intention of joining the forces of democracy, but Yeltsin was so persuasive that he could not resist. And with that single event, communism lost its final prospect of a return to power.

“A reporter interviewed Boris Yeltsin not long after that famous incident. The reporter asked Yeltsin what gave him the courage to take that stand. Yeltsin credited reading the story of Lech Walesa, the Gdansk electrician who led the forces of Solidarity and helped bring democracy to Poland several years before.

“Someone once asked Walesa what caused him to make the stand that brought down communism in his land. Walesa said he was inspired to his acts of sacrifice and courage by reading accounts of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights marchers in the United States.

“When Dr. King was asked what pivotal event spurred him into action as a leader of his people, he cited he influence of Rosa Parks, the African-American lady in Montgomery, Alabama, who refused to sit in the back of the bus when instructed to do so because of her skin color. Now here is the question for the day: Is it possible that the fall of Communism began with one African-American woman who refused to sit in the back of a bus?*

Suggested prayer: “Thank you God that you use ordinary people to do extraordinary things. I’m available, please use me to impact others — no matter who they are — big or small, for you and your Kingdom. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

* From King Duncan and the staff at http://www.sermons.com