“And we know that God
causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who
are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
Not long ago, I watched something that fascinated me and I
want to share it with you. Perhaps you have heard of this before: “The
Butterfly Effect”.
The Butterfly Effect is a term used in chaos theory to
describe how small changes to a
seemingly unrelated thing or condition (also known as an initial condition) can
affect large, complex systems. The name of the effect, coined by Edward
Lorenz, a mathematician and meteorologist is derived from the theoretical
example of a hurricane’s formation being contingent on whether or not a distant
butterfly had flapped its wings several weeks earlier. WOW! CAN YOU IMAGINE!
Similarly, in human behavior, it is possible for one small
action, taken by one person, to result in changing the lives of millions if not
billions of people. In other words, your
life makes a difference and God can use your life to change the world one small
action at a time.
Let me share with you an example of the Butterfly Effect
taken from Greg Laurie’s book, A Passion for God. Although Greg Laurie does
not use the term “The Butterfly Effect”, you will see how the faithfulness of
one person’s action can, as Greg Laurie says, “Cause God’s Divine Domino
Effect”.
“It all began when
Edward Kimble felt the tugging of the Spirit to share his faith with a young
shoe salesman he knew. At first Kimble vacillated, unsure if he should talk to
the man. But he finally mustered his courage and went into the shoe store. There
Kimble found the salesman in the back room stocking shoes, and he began to
share his faith with him. As a result, the young shoe salesman prayed and
received Jesus Christ that day. That shoe salesman’s name was Dwight L. Moody,
and he became the greatest evangelist of his generation.
But the story doesn’t
end there. Several years later a pastor and well-known author by the named of
Frederick B. Meyer heard Moody preach. Meyer was so deeply stirred by Moody’s
preaching that he himself embarked on a far-reaching evangelistic ministry.
Once when Meyer was preaching a college student named Wilbur Chapman accepted
Christ as a result of his presentation of the gospel. Chapman later employed a
baseball player to help him prepare to conduct an evangelistic crusade. That
ballplayer, who later became a powerful evangelist himself, was Billy Sunday.
Years later, a group
of businessmen invited Billy Sunday to hold a evangelistic campaign in
Charlotte, North Carolina, which resulted in many people coming to Christ. The
businessmen were so touched by Sunday’s preaching that they brought in another
evangelist, Mordecai Ham, to hold another crusade. Ham’s crusade went well,
even though it did not have many converts. On one of the last nights of the
meetings, however, one tall, lanky young man walked up the aisle to receive
Christ. That man’s name was Billy Graham.
Talk about a chain of
events! And it all started with an ordinary Christian named Edward Kimble, who
reached D.L. Moody, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who reached Billy Sunday, who
reached Mordecai Ham, who reached Billy Graham. Look at what God has done over
these many years because of the faithfulness of one person.”
How are we impacting our chain? Imagine what God is doing through your faithfulness! Everything we do – sets off a chain of events
that God uses to accomplish His purposes.
Nothing you do is insignificant – nothing! If the flutter of
a butterfly wing can somehow change the molecules in the air that can be felt
in another state, can you imagine what your faithfulness to your Lord, to your
family, to your friends, to your employer will do in the life’s of others?!
Every action you take, every word of encouragement, every
prayer you prayed, every smile you gave, every
person you forgave, every test you took, every assignment you took on, every day you purposed to work, every time you spent your “time” mentoring others or
caring for others or helping others or providing for others, set off a chain of events, whether
intentional or unintentional, that can have long reaching effects.
The beautiful part of following God is knowing the promise He
gives to His children in Romans 8:28, “And
we know that God causes ALL things to work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Never forget how valuable your life is! Your life
makes a difference!
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