Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. (James 4:14)
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT. Simply stated, it is a theory asserting that everything matters. It describes how small changes to a seemingly unrelated thing or condition can affect large, complex systems far away. Even the flutter of a butterfly’s wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. If you change even the smallest of life’s details, you change the outcome.
I drop a rock in a lake and watch the circles widen. From the single drop of one small stone in the lake, the circles reach for the outer edges of the water.
Each person’s day-to-day living generates unique experiences that influence others. What I do (or fail to do) expands outwardly and touches others. My actions affect other lives.
As the world grows more populated, opportunities for harming or healing others increases astronomically. We live on a planet inundated with tragedy and hardship. My tiniest action can have a huge influence in righting the wrongs of the world. I may never know or even suspect the impact caused by my behavior.
With God’s help and guidance, James offers words of encouragement to help us live life fully. I am called to make the best of every moment, and I resolve to make the present day all that it can be.
Make the best of every moment that God grants you. You will never have that opportunity again.
Right some wrong today that will affect another’s future.
Drexel Rankin is a retired ordained minister who served in Indiana, Alabama, and Kentucky. He and his wife, Patty, live in Louisville, Kentucky.
© 2018 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
