The small things

Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury tells a story of men traveling back in time to the land of dinosaurs (“A Sound of Thunder,” 1952). The guides for this excursion sternly warn the travelers not to wander from the elevated path that will keep them from touching anything in this prehistoric time. The smallest interference with the past could change the future.
Inevitably, one man does step off the path, killing a butterfly, which changes the future and leads to a tragic conclusion.

The story has always intrigued me because it’s fascinating to think of how one small, seemingly trivial act on our part could have long-lasting implications.

I’m thankful the sin of the world was placed on Jesus and that “there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). I don’t have to lie awake at night worrying about how the dumb things I’ve done might destroy the universe somewhere down the line!

Do you ever wonder if you’re making any difference in this world? Do you get discouraged when you try but don’t see the results of your efforts?

Remember, as missionary Charles Thomas Studd said, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Perhaps you’ve tried to help someone – maybe there was some teen in trouble, and you tried to counsel him, but that teen went right on making the same mistakes and getting in trouble. You may have felt discouraged and wondered why you tried to make a difference, but you don’t know that just a few years down the road, your words came back to that person, who turned his life around.

Maybe that person you smiled at and said hello to at the grocery store was really down that day and was encouraged by a friendly face.

The little things we do really can make a difference.

What’s exciting to think about is how the small act of kindness, long forgotten, may have powerfully impacted someone else. I think it would be fun if when we get to heaven, we get to see those little things we’ve done and don’t even remember, but because they were for Christ, they did make a difference.