Changing the World one Ship at a time

As kids we all dream about being super-heroes, at one time or another. I remember swallowing Getafix’s potion and then like Asterix wacking Keith, the bully into submission. Or donning my Superman underpants, I get things done my way. Or as Sam Casey, the Invisible Man I get to eaves drop unnocitced and then use the info to my advantage.

Sometimes I wanted to be Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man, so that I could singlehandedly beat the opposing team Saturday after Saturday, and thus being the hero and get all the girls.

When you get older, your dreams often get a little bit less self-centered. You want to save the world. (Be the hero, get the girls, money etc.)

The point is that we all have these crazy dreams where we immoratlise ourselves. We want to be Heros!

Sadly, for most of us the opportunity never appears. We never get to save a drowning person, or rescue people from a burning building. We have to be satisfied with tiny things, like rescuing your Trivial Pursuit team for a third straight loss by knowing that “B.F.G” stands for “Big Friendly Giant” a book by Roald Dahl.

And it gets to us. We believe that we are small and insignificant. I am not Bono, Ban Ki-moon of the UN, or even Vernon Koekemoer! What can I do?

Even if your friends and/or co-workers joined hands with us, we will still find excuses. “Uh, you know Jandré, the people who work with me don’t even have Matric!” “My Co-workers don’t go to Church!” “Join hands? We do not even like each other.”

It seems, that those with power, often get drunk on it and do the opposite of what our hero-self wants to get done. So the big guys get away with it, and the small guys pay for it.

Yet this week there was a story in the news of a group of small guys who changed history. I bet you many of them didn’t finish school, some won’t be able to read or write. Perhaps they do not even go to church. Yet they were in the headlines all over the world! CNN, BBC, FOX and maybe even here in Madagascar.

Who are these heroes, you ask? What did they do?

They are the men who refused to unload the Chinese weapons destined for Zimbabwe! They are the men who said: No! And now the Chinese ship has left port without the weapons being unloaded.

And it made me realise, that I might be, in the eyes of the world, a small, insignificant and powerless person, but I can do something. You can do something.! We can do something.

I can make a difference in Madagascar. You can make a difference at home, at work, in your town, country or world.

What did Paul say again? “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

So let me reiterate my point. Like the Durban Dockworkers we can change history. As Christians we are destined to change history. Yet we forget it! We get overwhelmed by reality and forget about Him who is in us. The One who is bigger than the world!

The Message renders Phillipians 4:13 as “Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.” Remembering this will protect us from arrogance and hopelessness. We can not be arrogant because it is not us, but Him who is in us, that is changing the world, albeit using our hands. We can not be despondent because it is He who is doing the work!

Where are you making a difference?

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”