God, the Great Cheese Maker

I am often stressed out by the enormity of the world’s problems—hunger, war, human rights abuse— and my inability to do anything to help. I do try. I volunteer for a few hours, and I give some money to charity, but my efforts feel so small. I wish I could do more. I wish I could solve the world’s problems.

I recently saw a story on TV about a man who raises sheep and makes cheese from their milk. It is painstaking work and needs a strong arm and lots of patience. The story got me thinking. For making cheese, the sheep produce the raw ingredient: milk. The cheese maker is the one who transforms the milk, creating a wonderful final product. Keeping the creamery running takes the milk of a lot of sheep, and each sheep is valued.

Believers are like those sheep. We can live faithful lives in our pasture and focus on making a simple raw ingredient: showing God’s love to the people around us. God is the master cheese maker who transforms our efforts into real change for the world.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to see that even though our efforts seem inconsequential, they are the raw materials you use to build up your kingdom. Amen