Today, I created a ripple.
This is never the thought that goes through our head at night, is it? Often times, the question is did I change the world today?
We boast about all the huge accomplishments, jobs, activities, and medals we have won. It is easy to talk about the waves we started that impacted the world, or at least our world.
But how often do we sit back and watch the ripples we make spread? How often do we find joy in seeing the stones we've been casting at the solid surface (someone's hard heart) bounce anywhere but the place we were aiming for?
Yeah, that's right, I'm talking to you.
Ripples. Oddly enough, it sounds so peaceful.
Yet, we are always surfing out to try and find the biggest wave instead of finding joy in the simplicity of something small. We spend our lives chasing after the waves. Soon, it becomes an addiction to fame--trying to become somebody great.
We don't realize ripples become waves and sometimes the ripples are more satisfying to watch accumulate than chasing a wave that may never hit us.
Throughout His journey, Jesus was humble. He sought out the ripples, never the waves. Yes, He stood in front of crowds, but He also targeted the lost and hurting. There are times to dive deep into the crashing waves, but God also calls us to make ripples. That's all He wants from us. Jesus was the everlasting example of what making a ripple can do. He was one man and He had 12 disciples. He was King of the world, yet He didn't boast. Instead, He reached out to people who no other king would ever touch.
Jesus made a ripple. That ripple grew through 12 other disciples, women close to Him, and any others close to Him. The ripple He made in those few lives led to the 2.2 Billion people who call themselves Christians. Though not all of them are saved, 2.2 Billion people on this earth associate themselves with something that Jesus started.
A ripple was all it took.
I saw a quote a few years ago that says,
“How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great.
- Bill Bennot”
Jesus, in my mind, lived this quote.
What about you? What are your intentions?
Are you chasing after the waves when you should be delighting in watching God use your ripples?
The earth has 7 billion people chasing waves, trying to change the world.
Are you willing to step aside from the rest of the world and allow God to create ripples through you as He did Jesus?