Previous Connections

I'm not going to go as far as saying 'when a butterfly flaps it's wings in the Amazon there's a typhoon in China…' but we can often see that significant events in our lives can lead to other opportunities.

1 Kings 14.1-20

Reference:  v.2  …and Jeroboam said to his wife, "Go, disguise yourself, so you won't be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam.  Then go to Shiloh.  Ahijah the prophet is there – the one who told me I would be king over this people." (NIV Bible)

Explore:  In two weeks time I will be leading a baby dedication for a couple and their six month old daughter.  It is a great privilege to be asked to pray a blessing over a baby and their family.  However, as neither of the parents are involved in church, the ceremony will look a little different to a typical baby dedication that usually happens within a church service.  While the parents don't attend the church I'm involved in, I was actually the minister who officiated at their wedding two years ago.  It's like they now see me as 'their minister' and whenever an event is held within their families, I'm called in to be involved.
This would be a familiar request to many ministers.  Once you have contact with a family they will often call on you in future events.  I guess you could presume this would be similar in any occupation.  If an electrician has done a good service to a client then the client will use them again and possibly recommend them to their friends and family as well.  Likewise, when Jeroboam needed some insight from a prophet he sent his wife to Ahijah who had been open to God's guiding in the past.

Application:  You never know what event in your life will lead to another event in the future.  I'm not going to go as far as saying 'when a butterfly flaps it's wings in the Amazon there's a typhoon in China…' but we can often see that significant events in our lives can lead to other opportunities.  If I had been lazy and done a bad job at this couple's wedding two years ago they may never have asked for me to also pray over their precious child.  Our openness and integrity does not just reflect our faith in that one moment but could possibly open up other opportunities for us to share God's love in the future.

Prayer:  Lord, may we be mindful of you in our every day steps.  Help us to live lives of integrity in our homes, our work place and with our friends.  Amen.

Have you experienced a situation that seemed insignificant but led to something greater?

1 Kings