Ripple

The ripple effect, have you ever thought about it? I am not referring to the buzz and hangover you get from drinking cheap wine, I am referring to the effect that our actions have on those around us. For good or for bad, what we do effects others and the effect it has on them effects others around them and so forth and so on.

In economics this is called the “trickle down” effect. If breaks are given to people at the top of the chain, they pass those breaks down the line and the consumer is supposedly the ultimate winner. Our actions work the same way. As I live my life, my actions carry consequences not only for me but for some many others whose life intertwines with mine.
Recently, our church made the decision to sell the house we are currently living in. Rather that waiting until we could get out, they made a deal to sell it immediately, giving us 30 days to get out. Now I am sure to most of the people involved making that decision, it made sense to take an offer that was on the table. As my dad always taught me, a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. Without making any value judgment on the decision itself, it is safe to say that what was intended to be a decision for the church has had a ripple effect on my family’s life as we are expeditiously trying to find someplace else to live.

All the while we are in the process of selling our house in Riverdale. We were supposed to close today, but the buyer’s mortgage broker was slow getting some of the information he needed and the result has also had a ripple effect on my family. What seemed an insignificant delay to an appraiser has dramatically affected the timing of our closing and put a time crunch on us as we look for someplace else to rent.

The point I am trying to make is that every decision we make individually has a ripple effect on many lives around us. Let’s keep that in mind and do our best to send out positive ripples. Let’s remember that we have the potential to bless others with our lives by choosing to do the right thing.

That’s a lot better than Fred G. Sanford’s ripple!

Am I A Dummy or What

You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials so that the genuineness of your faith — more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-8


I was reflecting today on the life of a Crash Test Dummy (CTD). What a rough life. Strapped all day in the seat of vehicles hurdles toward immovable walls only to crash time after time. The result I always the same for a CTD, their life is one big wreck after another.

But in reality, what happens in the controlled environment of the test site provides necessary data for engineers that helps them design the safest possible automobile. What they learn for those tests (very important word to remember) exposes vulnerabilities and flaws in automobile design and the engineers are able to devise safer more efficient. But, oh, the pain those dummies would go through – if they were real.

But life is real. Our crashes do hurt. It helps if we view our suffering as a test, much like automobile crash tests. God uses our suffering to refine us, to chip away at things that keep us from experiencing life in all the fullness He has for us. In the verse above, Peter reminds us that our faith becomes purer and more valuable as the result of the refining process of trials and suffering. When gold is melted and refined, any impurities rise to the top and are skimmed off, leaving a purer and more valuable product. So it goes with our lives. As we suffer and are tried, God is able to skim away things in our life that hinder our walk with him.

I know that my present trial has already taught me a lot. I have seen some ugly things in me that I am glad God has brought to the surface and removed. It has been painful, very painful, but if the end result is that Jesus Christ gets “praise, glory, and honor” then so be it. I know this is getting habit forming, but I close with song lyrics from Andrae Crouch’s song “Through It All.”

Through It All

Words and Music by Andrae Crouch

I've had many tears and sorrows, I've had questions for tomorrow,

There've been times I didn't know right from wrong

But in every situation God gave blessed consolation

That my trials come To only make me strong.

CHORUS:

Through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus,

I've learned to trust in God;

Through it all, through it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I've been to lots of places, and I've seen a lot of faces,
There've been times I felt so all alone;

But in my lonely hours, yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus let me know that I was His own.

I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms he brought me through;

For if I'd never had a problem

I wouldn't know that He could solve them,

I'd never know what faith in God could do.