All of the People in My Life
Once two lives are intertwined, they can never be completely separated.
This sounds like a pretty profound statement, but think about it for a second. When two people meet, both lives are changed. Depending on how this meeting goes, it can be good or bad. It can be as simple as opening a door for someone or as frustrating as honking at the driver who isn’t going as fast as you want.
Being aware that these interactions affect others should make us more intentional about how we act. Whether it’s letting someone with fewer items go ahead of you in line or racing to get in front them so you can be first, what we choose to do will have consequences.
Not only will our actions change the lives of the people experiencing the interaction, but it will ripple out from there. This is known as the Butterfly Effect. “In a world populated by billions of people, it is all too easy to convince ourselves that our lives are insignificant and that our decisions don’t matter. That the problems out there are too big, and that no matter what we do we can’t make a difference.”
In his book The Butterfly Effect, Andy Andrews shows us how every decision we make matters. The way you treat others will impact the world.
“Every single thing you do matters. You have been created as one of a kind. You have been created in order to make a difference. You have within you the power to change the world.”
It’s up to you to decide whether you will influence it for good or bad.
In Acts 16:6-15, Paul planned to go to Asia but was redirected through a vision to go to Macedonia instead. He stayed then stayed there for several days.
“On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul. After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, ‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.’ And she persuaded us.”
This turn of events led to more people learning about Christ.
Later, in his letter to the church in Philippi (Philippians 1:1-11), he thanks them for their good works and carrying on the message of Christ. Another example of how one man’s actions can spread out and multiply to more and more people. And how grateful he was to them.
This isn’t to say that every person we come in contact with is going to be positive. Some will be bad. Some may be mean and hurtful.
The thing to remember is this: regardless of what others do, we get to choose how we respond and react. We can take each situation and use it to make ourselves better. In every case, no matter how bad, we can be thankful for it making us better.
Be thankful for the people in your life.
