“He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands” (Psalm 78:5-7, NIV).

He’s been a special friend for many years, a long-term partner in healthcare missions, always overflowing with stories of the lives he has impacted for good. We flew to visit him after a long illness in which he had become weakened with chronic pain, now for more than a year.

“I can’t help feeling at times that I am not much use to God,” he said.

“Nonsense,” I said. “One of my most beautiful hopes, when you and I are in heaven together, is that we’ll be allowed to see the ripple effect of our relationships for God here on earth. When I think of all those you’ve served and loved—your family, church, Cameroonians, Albanians, friends, mission partners and on and on—not only will you someday realize the goodness of God that you brought into their lives, but the ripple effect of that goodness from their lives to other lives and then to others and others. Thank God we will have all the time we need to watch all He has done through you on this side of glory.”

It all began with Jesus, the Word that was from the beginning, His great splash into our world, and the ripple waves of that splash that continue to roll against our lives. And then, out from us roll those same waves of goodness, grace, witness, love and service to splash against other lives—our children, friends, neighbors and strangers—such that they are also changed. And then the Spirit-filled ripple waves from their lives become ripples through this age and ages to come—generation to generation, nation to nation—until one great day we are all together again.

We cannot see it now, nor should we. But one great day I think we will.

Dear Father,

Thank you for splashing into our lives and letting your glory roll from us to splash into others.

Amen