Eighty
years ago, Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy wrote a short story he called
“Chain-Links,” in which he proposed the idea that any two individuals in the
world are connected through, at most, five acquaintances. The thesis has been
revived today and is usually described as “Six Degrees of Separation.” It’s an
unproven theory, of course. But there is a dynamic at work that links us to
others around the world: It is the wisdom and providence of God working through
His Word to accomplish His will.
Some
years ago, I received a letter from a man whom I had never met telling me that
a note I had sent to a nearby friend had found its way to him, and it had
encouraged him in a time of weariness and dark despair. The friend to whom I
had sent the note sent it to a friend, who, in turn, sent it to a friend, and
so on, until it was sent to the man who wrote to me.
It may be
that a simple word offered in love, guided by the wisdom of God, and borne
aloft on the wings of the Spirit will have eternal consequences in someone’s
life.
Should we
not then fill ourselves with God’s Word and pass it on to others with the
prayer that God will use it for His intended purposes? (Isa. 55:11).
As the
blossom can’t tell what becomes of its fragrance,we can’t tell what becomes of
our influence. (RBC)
