Getting from A to Z or Maybe Just A to B

Recently my friend and fellow writer, Lucy Allen, wrote about her grandson throwing rocks in her pond and all the ripples that it would make. This reminded me of a sermon by Rhett Wilson, a former pastor of mine. He was preaching on salvation and as God’s servants, what our role is in the big picture. Rhett’s main point was that when we are born, we are at point A and eternal life is point Z, our end game as Christians. He made the analogy that as Christians, witnessing is

our job, but so often we think that we are supposed to lead the unsaved to salvation. And, that is the overall commandment, but so often we get discouraged when we don’t see it happen.

However, God is the one who prepares a person’s heart in order to receive his gift of salvation. Our job may simply be as a guide to get them from point A to point B, or point F to point G. Like the ripple on the pond, we are just a messenger, an example, a ripple in the life of someone that God puts in our path. Many times, we may never know the ripple that we started, or that the ripple started a wave. We have to have faith that God will use us as he sees fit.

Sadly, we can also be the rock or the limb that gets in the way of the ripple, slows down the ripple, or breaks it up all together. Our words and actions can sometimes cause people to stumble and the ripple gets disrupted. We must be diligent to not stop the ripples that God creates. Thankfully, we have a merciful God and he forgives us when we stumble. However, do we want to be the one who causes someone else’s ripples to be disrupted, cause someone else to stumble? Of course not! We as Christians can sometimes be our own worst enemy. Pray that God will use us to create the kind of ripples that will help, push those who are content to float along. Pray that we will never be the one that can cause someone to stumble or disrupt the ripples. Remember we want to help them get from A to Z, maybe not all at one time but get there just the same. The Book of Romans offers great insight in showing love for our neighbors and fellow man. Find the ripples that God can use to move A lost one to Z found one. LOL, pun intended. Go make some ripples.