“. . . that you may become . . . children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. . . .”—Philippians 2:15 (NKJV)

In the early morning darkness, I was riding my bicycle downtown, when I passed an old church with a lighted bulletin board out front and a beautiful scripture displayed on it. Later that day, I saw a young woman changing the scripture, so I stopped and introduced myself. “I want to thank you for these scriptures,” I said. “They are truly helpful to me.” 

The lady blushed. “Well, I sometimes wonder if anyone ever reads them, so thank you for that feedback.” 

I, too, often wonder if anyone notices my feeble acts of kindness. 

One evening, I came across some poetry by British author Francis Bourdillon, whose most famous poem begins with, “The night has a thousand eyes . . .” As I thought about that, I could see that the darker the world around us, the more our Christian witness stands out. 

Like the other day, when I was having lunch at a little downtown restaurant, and some middle-aged ladies were seated nearby. When their order arrived, they joined hands, and one of them began saying grace. Suddenly, inexplicably, the noisy restaurant grew perfectly still, just long enough that everyone could hear every word she prayed. 

The night does, indeed, have a thousand eyes . . . and a thousand ears. 

After witnessing this prayer, I no longer wonder if what I do affects others. I know the best thing for me to do is to concentrate on doing good and to trust God for its effects.