Every Effort Matters

Edward Kimble was a Sunday school teacher who worked in a shoe store. He had a coworker named Dwight with whom he wanted to share the gospel, but he was very reluctant to do so. Finally, he mustered up the courage, went to Dwight, and told him about his faith in Jesus Christ.

And Dwight, much to Edward’s delight, put his faith in Jesus Christ that day. Dwight’s last name was Moody, and you might say that he went from selling soles to saving souls.

Dwight L. Moody went on to preach around the world, and on one occasion a pastor named Frederick D. Meyer felt deeply stirred. As a result, he went into a nationwide preaching ministry. It was through his ministry that a college student named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ, and Chapman became an evangelist.

Chapman employed a young baseball player named Billy Sunday to help him, and Sunday went on to become the premier evangelist of his day. He was asked to preach in Charlotte, North Carolina, which he did. Sunday was very well-received there and was invited to return.

However, Sunday had a conflict in his schedule, so a relatively unknown evangelist named Mordecai Ham came to speak instead. And on one of the final nights of the event, a lanky farm boy made his way up the aisle in response to the invitation to receive Christ. Everyone knew him simply as Billy Frank. But we know him today as Billy Graham.

Kimble reached Moody, who touched Meyer, who reached Chapman, who helped Sunday, who reached businessmen in Charlotte. They invited Mordecai Ham to speak, who ultimately reached Billy Graham.

Maybe God won’t use you to bring a lot of people into His kingdom. Maybe you ultimately will reach a few people in your lifetime while others reach many more. Perhaps you feel that you’re somewhat of a failure in your evangelism efforts. But the story isn’t over yet, is it?

What if one of the people you reached was the next Billy Graham? What if one of the people you reached then reaches someone else? And maybe one hundred years from now, someone whose ministry is changing the world can trace their story back to your faithful efforts in approaching just one person.

Every effort matters. We all have a part to play. Maybe you’re a Kimble, or maybe you’re a Moody. Just don’t allow your life to amount to zero because you did nothing with what God gave you.

The truth that God has given us was not designed to be hoarded; it was designed to be shared. God has blessed you to be a blessing to others. And if you only take in and don’t give out, you are running the risk of spiritual stagnation.

You have a choice before you: evangelize or fossilize. We are to take the truths of God’s Word and share them with others. Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, I just don’t know all that much.”

God can do a lot with a little.

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