Who is YOUR Someone?
President Ronald Reagan coined the phrase: “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” That quote speaks volumes to me when I think about the “someones” who might have passed my way without me giving them a second thought. I might have been so caught up in my own little world that I didn’t even notice the face of a lonely or hurting “someone”.
God sends a “someone” to us as the answer to their prayers. We pray or sing: “Make me more like You, Jesus, make me more like You. Give me a heart that’s filled with love and make me more like You.” And, though we mean well as we pray and sing those words, we get so distracted by this and that, that we miss the opportunities to be His hands extended. Shouldn’t we slow down and be intentional and focused to be that difference maker to a “someone”?
A music therapist shared how early in her career working with clients, she’d told a supervisor she felt discouraged about not making as much of a difference as she’d hoped. The supervisor simply said this: “You can’t be a therapist to everyone but you can be a therapist to someone.”
And we can create our own version of that sentence too…I can’t be a ___________ to everyone but I can be a ___________ to someone. Would we write there: friend, leader, mentor, counselor, teacher? Whatever it is, I’m convinced it matters.
This is the time to pause and ask, “Who is my someone?” In other words, who do I know God has asked me to serve today? It’s another version of the parable Jesus told where the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to go look for the one.
I don’t think this literally means we’re only to serve one person. I think it’s more about understanding that we’re not called to anonymous crowds. We’re called to relationships and connecting with each other in meaningful ways.
Even Jesus didn’t heal everyone in Israel while He was here. Instead, He lived with focus and intention, only doing what His Father asked. Following His example means we can let go of the guilt that we are not doing more. We can love well the people right in front of us and trust God is the One taking care of the whole big, wide world.
We’ve been cloistered too long now from the pandemic. And, if you’re still there, you might not be able to literally reach out and touch somebody’s hand. But, we can make a phone call or send a text message. Sure, we can’t be all things to everyone but we can be something to someone today.
Diana Ross sang these words — maybe we should add them to our music repertoire as a new goal today: “Reach out and touch somebody’s hand. Make this world a better place if you can.”