“When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind.” (Mark 5:15 NIV)

We were heading back home after a fun filled weekend in Fergus, Ontario when we decided to take a small detour to visit the open-air market at St. Jacobs. It was a hot day and traffic was dense. My youngest son was in a sour mood. He had hoped to stay one more night at the farm and breakfast, and he was quite possibly also realizing that there were still five more weeks of school before summer. Yuck!

As we wandered around the market, we were greeted by a variety of tantalizing smells, ranging from new socks to fresh pastries to live animals. While I savored some live, exotic, pan flute music, my wife was excited to find some unpasteurized honey. Not to be outdone, my sons found a booth displaying a variety of wafer delicacies.

“Papa, papa. Come quick!” My youngest cried excitedly, dragging me by the hand away from the pan flute display. I found my oldest son standing at the wafer booth, staring at those delicious-looking treats. I could tell that both of their mouths were watering with hopeful anticipation as they contemplated the variety of flavors, ranging from maple to chocolate to vanilla, etc. The merchant must have noticed that my younger son seemed overall a bit disheartened, for he offered him a wafer sample.

He started to perk up immediately.

“I will do better than that,” said the salesman. I will assign you and your brother the task of advertising my merchandise around the market!”

“Advertise the wafers??? How?”

“I’m going to give you each a whole wafer. You walk around the market and enjoy it in front of everyone!” And he handed them both a waver.

Their eyes opened wide in astonishment, for they couldn’t believe the hand they had been dealt. Needless to say, I bought a box of those wafers, and it wasn’t any wonder that for the remainder of the day, my youngest son (as well as my oldest one, but then again he smiles all the time, except when he is upset!) Was all smiles. A wafer can make a huge difference in a child’s heart!

How often do we miss the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life! If we don’t have a wafer, why not try a smile? It’s such a simple way to show we care! And even better than a smile is to take the time to listen to someone who might have something heavy on their heart. But then again, stress and unfinished tasks await us. Decisions have to be made. Is it more important to accomplish all the things we have planned for the day or to show we care?

Jesus knew His priorities. Although His agenda was much heavier than ours, He still took the time to make a difference in individual lives. Take for example, the time He crossed the lake to reach the region of the Gerasenes. The purpose of his trip was solely to heal a demon-possessed man who was living in the tombs (see Mark 5). As soon as he was healed, Jesus left by boat to the other side of the lake with the purpose of coming to Jairus’ help, as well as heal a woman who had suffered terribly for the last twelve years.

Jesus always took the time to make a difference. What about you? Will you be followers of Jesus or followers of stress?

“Would you like a wafer?”

Rob Chaffart