Apples of Gold
Radio Script for December 17, 2008
“The Butterfly Effect”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
So I pulled up to a stoplight at 5:30 in the morning.
There was one car across from me and one beat up old car beside me with his window rolled down.
We sat there for a moment, no other cars in sight. It seemed silly, sitting there waiting for no one.
The man beside me grew impatient. He actually started to pull forward, thinking the light would change, but it didn’t. I heard him grumble through his open window. His hand flew up in frustration.
The car across from me gave up and drove on through the red light. I thought the man beside me would do the same, but he didn’t. He lurched forward again, but stopped.
This actually all happened in less than a minute, by the way.
Finally the man beside me had had enough. But for some reason he didn’t continue on through the intersection, even though he was already out there. With a loud burst of what sounded to me like Spanish cursing, he jerked the wheel, turned right, and sped off in the other direction.
And, I’m not kidding, that very second the light turned green.
And I thought, “The world just changed because he couldn’t wait one more second.”
I imagined him speeding off in that other direction, followed by a whole chain of events triggered by the mere fact that he had changed his route.
Maybe he pulled up to one of those smart lights, which changed when he got there. Now his frustration has changed the whole traffic pattern. Someone else has to stop who otherwise would have kept going. Maybe that delay causes them to hit a deer they would have avoided.
So they have to take their car to a body shop that needs the business. Bob the body shop guy makes just enough money to fly his mother in for Christmas. His mother meets the nicest girl on the plane, and tells her about a great restaurant, which the girl goes to on the very night that a Zydeco band is playing, and she ends up marrying the washboard player.
And it all goes back to that guy who couldn’t wait one more second at the stop light.
Sounds far fetched, I know. But isn’t that the way life happens?
This is what we call “The Butterfly Effect.”
The name comes from the idea that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings might create small changes in the atmosphere that can ultimately affect large scale weather systems.
It’s sort of like barely turning your steering wheel will change your direction radically as you move down the road.
Little decisions can be quite important when we understand the potential effects.
If you think about it too much, it’s sort of frightening. It could paralyze you from doing anything.
Well wouldn’t it be nice if God Himself just told us what to do?
I don’t know exactly how this works, but Galatians 5:18 talks about being led by the Spirit of God.
That is what I want. I want to be led by the Spirit. If there is a butterfly effect coming from me, I want it to be God-led.
And I do believe in this butterfly effect. Our actions cause a ripple in the pond. There is a sowing and reaping.
When my grandfather chose to drink, it changed the world.
When my dad chose not to drink, it changed the world.
When my aunt took a little job at the university it changed the course of my life.
Our little decisions do matter, but there is no way we are smart enough or can possibly collect enough data to even know what the best choices are.
The best we can do is allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit of God. I believe He will guide us through this maze of life as we tune in to Him.
Like I said, I don’t know exactly how it works, but I believe as we are led by the Spirit, He will guide us in decisions large and small.
And yes, I think He’ll even guide us when we pull up to that stoplight that just takes a bit too long to change.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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