The effort we make matters a lot in everything we do. Effort is the energy we put in to things to make them work. Things work because of the effort behind them and when no effort is made, things do not work. No matter how hard the situation might look the presence of an effort make the story different. Many people had made efforts in the past but did not benefit from the situation but others did. One thing is certain, their names are never forgotten. No one will ever forget a hero. Heroes are those who make sure that things are done in a proper way especially when it is difficult to do so. They are ready to use their time, energy and effort to see that things work out properly. Some may die in the process, others may even be misinterpreted and then there are those who may even be hated by the very people they are working for. Often time their paths are difficult to tread unlike others.
No matter how small an effort is, it should be felt and appreciated. The Lord does not forget or reject any one who is making an effort no matter how small it may be, little efforts count. From the gospel of Mathew 9:20-21, we saw how the woman with the issue of blood was healed. She had gone to many places to seek for help or healing but to no avail. When she saw the crowd, she was not discouraged because she had done a lot of big things already like spending money for treatment and traveling far and wide to get a doctor who could cure her of her haemorrhage. She had sold everything she had in other to secure her healing but unfortunately no help. Her last resort was to touch only the tip of His garment. It’s just a little thing but this little demonstration brought about a total turn around in her life. After touching the tip of Jesus’s garment she immediately got cured and she became well again. That little act changed her story forever. Often times we may feel discouraged and stuck with no direction, confused and frustrated. Just a little effort can go a long way to arrest the situation. We should copy the example of the woman with the issue of blood and try to face our different situations with a new dimension, abandoning a problem cannot solve it but rather looking for ways to overcome it, is better. We should always know that problems are stepping stones to success. Whichever experience we have gained in the process of our struggle serve as an additional knowledge that can add positively to our lives.
Furthermore, in Mark12:41-43, we saw how Jesus seating opposite the treasury box beheld how the people put money into the treasury. Many that were rich put in much and then there came a certain poor widow who threw in two mites which make a farthing so he called unto his disciples and said to them, “Verily I say unto you, that poor widow has put in more than all the rich have put into the treasury” from the above scriptural passage we can observe that all the people that put money in the treasury box were very rich and they put large sum of money out of their abundance. They even made a show of their wealth and their generosity but these huge donations were not recognised by God. All because it was not straight from the heart, their so called large effort did them no good. To the eyes of the people, they had done more than enough in their donation but in the sight of God it was all nonsense. But see the poor widow, who gave very little and was not recognised due to the fact that she was neither rich nor famous, her name was not mentioned but everything about her was known by God. Her little effort counted a lot in the sight of God and she was the only one who received the blessing for those who donated generously to God. Often times when we are told that we should give to God, some of us would even stop going to church, thinking that we are poor and have nothing to offer but with this illustration, we can see that our little effort many a times matters a lot and God never despises anyone. Little things that are done with a clean heart matter a lot.
More often than not, we should be careful about doing big things to attract a lot of attention. Jesus had warned us to try and avoid parading our piety before men so that he can bless our efforts and hear our petitions. Prayer without faith often times is useless. It is the level of our faith that determines how God is going to answer us. All the Lord requires of us is our participation with him. Our prayer depends on the quality of our faith. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church No9 “Faith is a supernatural gift of God which enables us to believe without doubting whatever God has revealed”. The Lord did not ask us for a large amount of faith but just a little is enough. He says if your faith is small like that of a mustard seed you can command the mountain to move and it will move (Mathew 10:15-16). A little faith is enough to make our prayers heard and answered. The widow of Zeraphath in the book of 1 Kings 17:8-16, who prophet Elijah saw and asked to prepare food for him replied very sympathetically saying “I only have a little flour in a barred and a little oil in a cruse: and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die”. From the above scriptural passage we noticed that this poor widow only had little flour and little oil for her and her son to live on. Since she was able to obey the prophet of God by using her little resource to help the messenger of God, her little act of kindness turned out to be abundance. She will never lack anything because of the little effort she made to help a prophet. She was blessed beyond measure, she and her son did not die as she thought they would and now they have something to live on. As Christians we should try our best to be kind to others no matter how little it may be because through it God will speak favour into our lives.
Finally, a little effort can end up becoming a big thing. We are not forced to do something great rather what is required of us is to be constant in our efforts of doing what we know to be right, no matter how little. Little drops of water make an ocean so we should try to appreciate every effort made no matter how little they may be.
Sr Margret Ogbebor SSMA is a Catholic Nun, working in the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto. She is the Head Teacher of St Martin de Porres Nursery and Primary School Katsina. [email protected]