Doing the Best with What You’ve Got
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
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Doing the Best with What You’ve Got
I was thoroughly touched by this true story I heard at church.
Even though I don’t have the exact details, but it’s the principle behind it that will make you examine your life carefully.
Never, let me repeat NEVER let something that may seem insignificant stop you from doing what you can.
Doing the Best with What You’ve Got: True Story
The story goes something like this…
There was a pastor in a bad part of town. It was to the point where he had been stabbed a few times yet he still faithfully served despite the constant danger he surrounds himself.
One day, a middle-aged woman that was originally from Puerto Rico came forward and accepted the Lord as her personal savior. In her broken English, she asked how she could serve the Lord. The pastor gave it some thought and knowing that she had a heart for children. He had her help on the bus that goes around picking up children around town that needed to learn about Jesus. Since she barely spoke any English. The only words she knew were Jesus loves you and I love you.
Every Sunday, this woman would look for a child that looked the most pathetic and she would hold him or her on her lap the whole entire ride to and fro from the church. She would repeat the only words she knew which were “Jesus loves you and I love you.”
Eventually there was one particular little boy that she especially took notice of. She would hold him in her lap repeating the only words she knew once again “Jesus loves you and I love you.” What was unique about this little boy was that he would often have a sad countenance and no one had ever heard him spoken a word before.
One particular Sunday, while this little boy was sitting on this woman’s lap as he did many times before hearing those words that echo in his ears “Jesus loves you and I love you.” He said “I love you, too”. Unfortunately, that same evening, this little boy’s own biological mother beat him to death and dumped his little body in the trash can which was later found by the police. Despite the fact, that this is a heart wrenching story that will make many people cry, myself including.
Doing the Best with What You’ve Got: The Lesson
This story is not meant to entertain but to inspire you to action. The beauty of this true story is that this woman didn’t look at her limitation or make excuses as to why she shouldn’t do her part because she didn’t seem to have a lot to offer. But she took action and did the best she could with what she knows. The result? Her seemingly simple act transform the life of a child that did not know what love was and was severely abused by his very own mother, who ought to be the person showing him love. I am also reminded of the story with D.L. Moody who only had a 5th grade education. An educated man criticized D.L. Mood. The man bluntly told him that he needed to give up public speaking because of his bad grammar. D.L. Moody replied “I know I make mistakes and I lack a great many things; but I am doing the best I can with what I have got. But look here, friend, you have grammar enough; what are you doing with it for Jesus?” Isn’t it amazing what the Lord can do through a man that is wholly yielded to Him? D.L. Moody impacted the lives of millions and he continues to leave his legacy through the work he left behind such as The Moody Bible Institute. The truth is it is so easy to make excuses and justify why we can’t do certain things. However, if you truly commit doing the best with what you got….you may be pleasantly surprise as to the results it will yield.