“I’m so sorry! I’m such a clutz,” Wendell told Mrs. Byers, the lunchroom manager, as he picked up his lunch tray from the floor. “I can’t even get my lunch to the table without dumping it.”
“No worries, Wendell. You may be a little clumsy at times, but think of all the football games we would’ve forfeited without you,” she replied.
“Huh?” Wendell asked, obviously confused. “I don’t even play football.”
“Maybe not, but you can’t have a game without lines on the field,” she answered. “And the coach said you do that perfectly every time. You get another tray, and I’ll clean up this mess.”
Perhaps we’ve all felt like Wendell at times. Feeling as if we can’t get anything right until someone reminds us that what we do matters. Often, the smallest people, objects, and efforts yield the greatest results.
Peter and six disciples boarded a big ship to go fishing. One-hundred-fifty-three fish would’ve perished had a little ship not been there to save the day by getting them to shore where the big ship couldn’t go. The disciples in the little ship aren’t even named but were there and available to do the job when needed.
We never know when God will need a small boat to do a big job. God doesn’t look for ability but availability.
The plural of ship occurs in Mark 4:36 when Jesus and His disciples encountered a storm on board a ship. They woke Jesus, and He calmed the storm. Other little ships were also with them. Little ships often don’t share the limelight, although they face the same storms as the big ships and survive.
As Wendell learned in our story, the most outstanding teams can’t play the game without someone preparing the field. God can use you to make all the difference in somebody’s life by what you’re willing to do, even if no one notices. Remember, battleships and cruise liners don’t move anywhere in port without tugboats. Be content to be a little ship. Someone is counting on you.
Think of ways to be a little ship in someone’s life.
Andy is a published multi-award-winning author with devotions appearing on the Christian Devotions website as well as the CBN website. He is a contributing author in the Starr Ayers/Stephanie Pavlantos book Room at the Table. Currently, he is working on his first novel and is assembling a book of inspirational Scripture-based short stories along with moral, personal, family, and comical stories. Andy is the founder and director of H.O.P.E. Ministries in Candler, NC. While operating primarily as a food ministry, they also provide backpacks, Easter baskets, and Christmas shoebox gifts to crisis pregnancy centers, domestic violence shelters, schools, government agencies, and other ministries. They also provide disaster relief and aid for unwed mothers and their children.