My preschooler loves to throw rocks and other objects into any body of water he can find. This includes the gutter, puddles, and especially the creek that runs behind our neighborhood.
Sometimes, he'll pick up a huge rock and hurl it in. I don't have to tell you what a big splash it makes when it hits the creek. Water splashes all over, followed by ripples. These ripples continue for a while, gradually getting smaller and smaller, subtler and subtler.
Other times, he'll throw in a smaller, more-medium-sized rock or a pinecone. The splash is smaller by far, but I notice that the ripples are about the same. They continue on for about the same amount of time as the ripples from a big splash.
Still other times, he will throw in tiny pebbles. They barely make a noticeable splash at all, and yet little tiny ripples emanate from the contact made with the water, going on and on for just as long as the other ripples mentioned.
My point? Well, our lives and acts of obedience make a splash in the world. Some make big, obvious splashes. The late Billy Graham made a very big splash in the Christian world. He went down in history as a man who preached the Gospel and led evangelistic crusades. And there are ripples effects of his ministry. No doubt countless who were saved at one of his events went on to live victorious Christian lives, winning their own battles, making their own impacts for the kingdom. Perhaps they led others to Christ would never have attended a Billy Graham crusade. And then some of those people turned around and ran their race for the Lord. They're all ripples for Billy Graham's big splash.
Most of us aren't big splashes. Most of us won't go down in history. When I was growing up, I used to wish I could travel forward in time 100 years and look myself up in the encyclopedia to see if I ever became famous (but I never did, as time machines don't exist, and now, encyclopedias don't either)! I don't foresee fame for myself, and that's okay! Fame does not necessarily denote meaningfulness. Some of us are medium or small splashes. And yet we still produce just as many ripples. We have no idea, but by obeying God's leading in our lives, we set events in motion that God will use to bring people to Him that we might not even meet in this lifetime.
Not only do we all make some sort of splash, but we're also ripples of someone's else's splash. Jesus made that first splash--a gigantic splash, of which every person who has ever received Him, or ever will receive Him, is a ripple.
There have been smaller but significant splashes in church history. When the Apostle Paul was trying to get into Asia, but the Holy Spirit prevented him, and instead led him to Europe (Acts 16:6-10), that was a splash that has ripple effects all over the world. The Gospel traveled through Europe, eventually making it to the British Isles. From there, Christianity eventually spread to America, Australia, and practically to the ends of the earth as British Christians settled these nations, as well as eventual missionaries from all of these British-influenced countries have reached around the globe. All of us in these nations are ripple effects from the splash in Acts 16, even though the Apostle Paul had no idea these countries would one day exist, or even that they existed as land masses in uncharted places in his day! We really have no idea who will be blessed as a ripple effect of our obedience long after the fact!
Paul wrote in Philippians 4:17 that those who supported his ministry would receive fruit that may abound to [their] account. From this, I believe that those who are catalysts for a ministry, even if they themselves aren't the ones there actually doing it, receive rewards for their part.
Years ago, I had trained a summer missionary named Beth to do 5-day Bible clubs and share the Gospel as part of a team. Beth led a little boy named Jason to the Lord in one of these clubs. Jason went on to become a very powerful witness to other children, but every time he shared Christ, he would ask me, "Will I get a reward in Heaven for that, or will Beth, since she started it by telling me about Jesus first?" I believe they both will. These people Jason shared with are fruit that abounds to Beth's account. But someone also once told Beth about Jesus, and someone told that person about Jesus, and so on and so forth. Beth was both a ripple and a splash, as we all are.
Over 20 years after Anna Bartlett Warner's forgotten book was published, a teenager named Amy heard the song Jesus Loves Me, and was convicted of her need for salvation. She received Christ as a result of this song. Amy went on to become the famous missionary to India (you may know her by her full name, Amy Carmichael). She saved over 1000 children from being temple slaves, and introduced them to Jesus. She wrote 35 books. She impacted generations of missionaries and those they won to Christ. She enacted legal change that ended child prostitute in India. And all of these are ripples for the largely-unknown Anna Bartlett Warner and her little song. Some people are versions of Amy Carmichael, who make huge, obvious splashes, and others are more like Anna Bartlett Warner, and their small splashes are barely noticed at the time, and yet the ripples they produce are just as powerful!
Stories like this are inspiring, and I believe they happen more than we know. But I also think that even if we don't see or know about any ripple, we can just rejoice that we have faithfully walked with Christ, influencing others for Him for one more generation. I have seen people come to the Lord, and even if NOTHING else ever happens as a ripple, this person will be in Heaven for all eternity. That alone is enough of a ripple to get me really excited! And yet I believe there really are a lot more ripples than we can ever know, or ever will know until Heaven. Keep obeying and doing what you're called to do. Eternal difference are being made!
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