The cover photo of this post probably doesn’t mean anything to you. And when these photos were taken, they probably didn’t mean a whole lot to the people taking them, apart from the fact that they were in a cool spot.
What the people in this photo didn’t know was that 10 years from when these photos were taken, they would meet for the first time. The two would get married and wouldn’t realize until three years into marriage that they both happened to be here at the May Fourth Square at the same time and in the same picture.
I watched a movie this evening called Life Itself (6/10 rating). The movie centered around…well, no one specifically. The story moved through time highlighting different characters who played a part in a bigger story. Much life life, it showed how one decision or one mistake may impact not only you and not only those around you, but impact generations to come.
Sometimes (oftentimes), without ever being aware of it, we live our lives as if everything happens by chance. What one stranger may have said to you to encourage you when you were 7 was then passed on to your friend when you were 15, impacts your friend’s child when they are making a career choice.
I think people overestimate the impact that they have when they’re trying to make a big imprint, but underestimate the little things they do each day which plays a huge effect on the world stage for generations to come.
How do I mean?
There are likely (no doubt) hundred of kings from the history of many nations that I have no clue even exist. They may have toiled over many big decisions for their nation. Maybe it was about how to tax their people, maybe it was how to rebuild their city after it was destroyed. So many important big things, right? But then again, I don’t even know they existed and their nation probably doesn’t even exist anymore.
Now, dramatize with me for a second on this story, what if that same king decided to go for a walk one day and happened to meet a fair maiden and took her to be his wife? This woman would end up being one of my ancestors from over a 1,000 years ago.
Almost positive I didn’t come from any kings, but let’s say that story is true. If that’s the case, that king going out on a walk had a significantly higher impact on my life personally than his decision on what to tax his people, but to him, it was likely a very small decision.
It’s enough to drive a logical person mad. How can we know what decisions are going to be the biggest ones? How can we know that going out on a walk is going to change lives 1,000 years from now?
The simple answer is that we can’t, and some might argue that it’s better that way. To live life unrestricted to make the decisions that you want.
One thing that we haven’t considered yet in this equation, which happens to be the most important part: God. Could it be that there is a God that is orchestrating every event, every encounter, every decision that ever happens on earth? If so, what if instead of worrying so much about how our decisions affect others that may not even be born, we lived in such a way as our creator has told us is best?
Instead of it being one big guessing game of “how will this impact others lives?” What if we took ourself out of the equation and started giving each day to God? To say, “hey God. not sure how you’re going to use me today, but guide my steps. Show me where you want me to go. Not my will but your will be done.”
If we serve a God who can create the universe, can he not also use us, even us, our tiny lives, to have an impact exactly as he wants?
We may never know the people that we see as we ride in a bus. We may never know the people that walked by us as we were visiting a town on vacation, but what if there was a God who did and could use each person in exactly the places he wanted to serve Him best?
The intersections of life that we have with others is a fascinating thing, and it leaves me feeling glad that I’m not the one controlling those intersections.