I was talking with a friend this week about
how decisions aren’t always about just one or two people but that it has a
ripple effect and affects so many others.
My friend’s response: When God is
in it, then you need to follow what God is telling you to do. The rest of the issues will work themselves
out, because God is in control of the whole picture anyway.
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| https://www.google.com/search?q=pictures+of+ripples+in+water |
Life has a way of creating circumstances over
which we feel we have no control. As
children of God, we don’t “need” control if we believe God is at the wheel. Yet God can use these circumstances, which
often feel like an obstacle course, to mold us into the person he wants us to
be. It can be a great time of discovery
into who we are and what we are to become; but it can also be a time of despair
as we deal with emotions which feel like giant ocean waves. It’s a time where reliance on the Father can
become so profound we can sense Him holding us.
Our inexperience of where we are, as well as,
who we are becoming, can shake our world.
It’s new, exciting and exhilarating.
At the same time, it can be very frightening as we walk and cross over
new thresholds. It’s at these times
where true reliance can turn into an exquisite peace as we watch God work out
those details we could not have fathomed.
Rearrangements of plans, adjustments of attitudes, surprise waves of
strength, with fresh ideas are all gifts from the Father. Not everything works like we plan, but we can
know that His ideas are better than ours anyway!
God has a remarkable way of using little things
to create huge miracles. I can’t help
but be reminded of the time he fed 5,000 with just five loaves of bread and two
fish. If he can feed the multitude with
so little, then why can’t he take my life, as inconsequential as it seems, and
make it a miracle out of it, in whatever way he thinks is best? Truth is, can’t God do that with every one of
us?
Each of us has a specific reason for being
here. We each have gifts which when
worked together, can create an environment which furthers the Kingdom. When we don’t realize our gifts, and
therefore, don’t use them, we have cheated ourselves and our community,
not to mention the Lord. What is even
worse, is when we know our gift, and refuse to use or share it because we don’t
think we’re good enough, don’t have enough time, or choose not to because we
are rebelling in our relationship with God.
So when we look at our circumstance, which
feels like a raging river sometimes, and recognize those things over which we
have no control, we can know God can use our “little gifts,” and arrange our
“little lives” to have a great and huge impact by touching other lives in ways we
never thought possible.
What we choose to do with our lives and
circumstances does affect other people.
The ripple effect mentioned earlier, is very real. It’s in God’s power, however, to use these
effects to cause us to grow in Him, as well as, in those whose lives are also affected
by whatever decision we are making. But God promised to help when we need
him. He never sleeps, promises to stand
beside us, knows our comings and goings, and He promised to never leave us
(Psalm 121). If our heart is right and
we’ve been in sweet communication with our “Abba Poppa,” our God, we can know
“He has our back!” That’s amazing
comfort even in difficult decision making!
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