Making an Impact — Answering The Call - A Redeeming The Time Blog

Making an Impact

By Grant Gaines

How big of an impact can the smallest of moves have?

That’s the question that has plagued scientists for centuries on end. In fact, that’s the question that was running through the minds of Major General Leslie Groves and physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer as they began what is now known as “The Manhattan Project” in 1939.

The Manhattan Project was an eight year experiment in which hundreds of scientist under the direction of Groves and Oppenheimer successfully designed and created the first atomic weapon. You’ve likely heard of or have seen destruction that a nuclear weapon can unleash on its target but how often do you take the time to pause and consider how all of that destruction was brought about? If you’re anything like me, the answer to that question is not very often, if ever.

When we stop to consider that the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan in 1946 had such large explosions that radiation and debris from the explosions reached as far as California, one would have to believe that this explosion was caused by some monumental amount of explosives. It’s only logical to think that an explosion that big must have been caused by a big movement. But what the scientist in The Manhattan Project discovered is that by splitting one small little atom, enough energy is unleashed that it can take thousands of peoples’ lives, devastate a country, and end a war. That is how big of an impact the smallest of movements can have.

And just like an atomic bomb that is triggered by the splitting of one atom, even our smallest actions have the potential to create a ripple that shakes the whole world. This is true both in a good way and in a bad way but today I want to look at how our sins-even the ones we think we can just harmlessly sweep under the rugs-can rock the foundations of our lives and the lives of the generations to come. This is what happened to Abraham, the father of our faith.

If you’re familiar with your Biblical history, you likely know that God promised Abraham some pretty cool things. Starting in Genesis 12 and then again in Genesis 15 the Lord assured this patriarch that He would bless Abraham with a giant nation of decedents that would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (the Jews), the Promised Land (Israel), and the Messiah (Jesus). However, at the beginning of Genesis 16 which was 10 years after God originally promised Abraham these things, Abraham was sitting at the ripe old age of 86 years old (Genesis 16:16) still without a child.

This caused Abraham’s wife-Sarah-to start to get a little nervous, and understandably so. Sarah was barren (Genesis 11:30) and was only 10 years younger than her senior citizen husband (Genesis 17:17). Knowing that God had promised her husband some great things and that these things would be humanly impossible to achieve given her circumstances, Sarah took matters into her own hands and, “…said to Abraham, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her'” (Genesis 16:2, NIV).

Abraham agreed to do so and Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant, bore him a son which she named Ishmael.

One little sin is all Abraham committed right there. He had sex with a woman out of wedlock and that woman had a son as a result. No big deal, right?

Well, actually Abraham’s actions have quite a bit more consequences to them than we may have originally thought. You see, in Genesis 16:11-12 (NIV) God tells Hagar exactly what will come of this son she will bear-“You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael for the LORD has heard your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand will be against him, and he will live in hostility towards [some versions say “he will live to the east of”] all his brothers.”

How, exactly, has this prophecy played out? Well, Ishmael’s descendants are Arabs who live in Iran, Iraq, and other Middle Eastern countries. Abraham’s other son-Isaac-has descendants who are Jews living in Israel. Are you starting to grasp the gravity of this problem?

Whether it’s terrorist attacks through organizations such as the Taliban and ISIS/ISIL on Israel, America, or other Western countries or just the downright hatred we see from Middle Eastern countries towards Israel and America, all this trouble finds its roots from one “little, harmless” sin that Abraham committed in Genesis 16.

Satan wants nothing more than to convince you that your sin will not have any consequences beyond a momentary, fleeting guilt. He wants to trick you into believing that if you just tell that “little” white lie, take a “little” peak at that inappropriate website, or take a “little” extra petty cash for your business trip that it will not really have any lasting effects. But as we saw from the atomic bomb and from Abraham’s mishap in Genesis 16, little movements can have earth shattering results.

So today I’m pleading with you to ignore the lies of Satan. Your actions, even as small as they may seem, do have massive implications on your life and the lives of others. Consider your steps before you take them, make wise choices, and flee from evil.