Hint: No – but that doesn’t mean small things don’t have big impacts!
Have you ever heard of the “butterfly effect”? It says that a butterfly flapping it’s wings can cause a huge storm in the weather. The idea is that every storm begins from a tiny starting point.
Meteorologically, it’s not true. The butterfly flitting among the flowers in my back yard will not create a devastating storm for you and yours.
While this isn’t true for the weather, the principle can hold true. And I have a story to tell to that effect.
I just launched my newest book Give Us A King! I dedicated it to my parents, because of the influence they had on my life in terms of training me to love God’s word.
So I sent them a copy. It seemed the right filial thing to do.
When my dad got it, he eagerly started reading it. And he found the introduction to be super relevant. So much so, he retyped it up (with permission, of course) and used it as the basis of his Sunday School lesson that week.
Honestly, the introduction was the origin story of the book and the underlying study. I thought it was a heartwarming story, but not really anything more than that. But my dad saw it completely differently.
It tells how, when I was 12 years old, my family did a Bible study of the kings of Israel. It was really profound for me. It was the first Bible study I ever remember doing. I learned truths in that study that influenced my life for 45 years (and counting…).
The point of the Sunday school lesson was, “a small thing (doing a Bible study as a family), when combined with faithfulness can have enormous results in a person’s life.”
In the case of that study of the kings, that study influenced my own Bible study habits. It led me to lead my wife and daughters in the same study. It led me to write a book. It led me to present the study in my own church small group.
I see the point. One small thing, lifelong impact. It may not be a butterfly wings flapping leading to a hurricane, but how do you judge the size of a life turned on to God’s word?
Have you had a “small thing” that changed the course of your life for God? What was it? I’d love to hear your “butterfly wings” story.
If not, you should be looking for something.
Dennis
