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An old man, walking along a beach shore, saw a small boy picking up starfish off the ground littered with starfish as far as the eye could see. The man asked the boy, “Son, what are you doing?” The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. When the sun gets high, they’ll die unless they get back into the water.” “But,” said the man, “there are thousands. You won’t really make much of a difference.” As the boy picked up another one and threw it in, he said, “It’ll make a difference to that one!” When we see so much injustice, violence, and pain in our world, we’re tempted to ignore the cries of the hurting or rationalize that since we cannot fix the whole world, why try to do anything. But by ignoring the hurting we disregard God’s attitude. We read about God’s concern in His words to Moses found in Exodus chapter 3, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them” (from vv. 7–8). Today, we live at a different time and place from ancient Israel, but God’s heart has not changed. He still calls His people to help those who hurt—often we do it one person at a time.
