In my last post, I wrote about little sins. In this post, in continuation of the little things theme, I would like to discuss little actions, big impact.

I was reading the story of Joseph and his brothers not too long ago, and a thought struck me. Genesis 37 tells us that Joseph lived in Canaan with his family. What do we know about Canaan? In Exodus 3:17, God said “I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.” It was the promised land God was going to bring the Israelites to, after centuries in Egypt, where they were under oppression for a long time. But Joseph had already been living there with his family to start with! So why did he leave then? Well, we may know this part of the story. His brothers were jealous because he was their father’s favourite son, born to him in his old age. So really, it wasn’t anything Joseph or his brothers did or didn’t do. His status as favoured son was due to factors none of them chose or had control over. “But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.” (Genesis 37:4, NLT). Then Joseph started having these dreams where his family bowed down to him. And guess what? “And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.” (v. 8, KJV).

To side track a bit, it’s interesting to note that while he may have come across as boastful (whether or not that was his intention is not something we can say), it wasn’t the boasting that led to the hate. It really drives home that the condition of ours hearts has a significant influence on how we react to others and to events around us. While Joseph’s brothers reacted with hate to his dreams, his father (who, going by the culture of the time, should have been even more offended at Joseph’s insinuation that his own father would bow down to him), simply observed the saying and pondered it in his heart (Genesis 37:11). As such, somebody can be pompous, arrogant, brash… you name it. If there’s even a little hate in our hearts, it will simply multiply. And if there’s love, we will react differently.

Anyway, back to the story. Hatred had multiplied, and his brothers decided to finish him off once and for all. Thank God for Reuben, who had a different heart, and not only thought it was a horrible idea to kill his own brother, but spoke out against their plan, and convince the rest of them not to do so. God bless the people who think differently, and importantly, speak out when needed. Reuben convinced them to throw Joseph into a pit, with the intention of rescuing him later. Anyway, Reuben went somewhere, maybe to check on his sheep, and lo and behold, Midianite merchantmen happened to pass by. The rest of the brothers, led by Judah, thought it would be a great idea to sell Joseph to the merchantmen, after all it was better than killing him, wasn’t it? And so they sold their own brother into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. And the brothers were content with his. They would be killing two birds with one stone, getting rid of the brother they hated, and getting some silver as well. However, I have to point out that Reuben wasn’t part of this, as he was so upset when he came back to the pit and there was no Joseph there, that he tore his clothes (Genesis 37:29). But the deed had already been done, Joseph was on his way to slavery. That wasn’t all though, they went on to do something almost unforgivable. They let Jacob believe that his own child, his favourite child for that matter, was dead. FOR YEARS. Joseph lived with that awful, heart breaking, life changing sorrow that accompanies the loss of a child, FOR YEARS.

Now I do realise some of what I’m about to write is conjecture, but bear with me. What if God originally intended Canaan to be the place where there was abundance even in the famine? It was thanks to Joseph that Egypt became the place to go to for grain after all. Even though Pharaoh had the dream, without an accurate interpretation and sound counsel, neither of which his wise men and magicians could provide (Genesis 41:8), nothing would have been done.

What if it was one of the rulers in Canaan that had the dream instead? Could they have avoided all that heartache, pain and suffering… the need to leave their land behind, go pleading for food in a foreign land, live as foreigners in Egypt where they were seen as an abomination for being shepherds (Genesis 46:34), and eventually, following the rise of the Pharaoh who did not know Joseph (Exodus 1:8), have their descendants suffer so terribly as ill-treated slaves for years and years?

But because all but one of Joseph’s brothers had carried out such a horrible act, getting rid of the person who was to save them from famine, Joseph eventually landed in Egypt, and Egypt became the place of prosperity in famine, the place where people from all over the world came to buy grain (Genesis 41:57), the rich country in the midst of worldwide poverty. This meant the brothers (and others as well) had to leave their beloved homeland, settle in Egypt, their descendants eventually becoming slaves, and suffering oppression for hundreds of years, before they were eventually rescued by God, and sent back to where they should have been in the first place. What if it was that singular act of selling their brother to slavery that set the wheel in motion for all the awful things that happened to the Israelites in Egypt?

Like I said, some of this is conjecture, and we may never know what would have happened either way, but it just got me thinking… we do not always know the impact of some of our actions. They may seem small at the time, maybe even the lesser of two evils (for instance selling someone as a slave being better than committing murder, as Joseph’s brothers rationalised), but we cannot know what the impact will be in the future, and how big it will be.

There are so many man-made disasters that have occurred all over the world, some of them triggered by one small action or inaction, or one small faulty or absent piece of equipment, possibly even a tiny one. For instance the Piper Alpha disaster. It was an oil rig explosion that occurred in July 1988, in the North Sea, where sadly 167 men lost their lives. There was of course a chain of events that led to the explosion, each one possibly not seen as disaster inducing, until it happened. However, it is believed that what ultimately led to the explosion was the absence of a pressure safety relief valve, which had been removed as part of maintenance on the standby condensate pump. Compared to the size of the rig, this pressure safety relief valve is tiny, but its absence possibly set in motion a chain of events that led to a terrible tragedy. It took three weeks to put out the fire, the rig was destroyed, and the lives that were lost can never be replaced. It was one of the worst oil disasters in the UK.

It is not only negative actions though. Remember the story of the boy with the five barley loaves and two fish in John 6:1-14? Who could have known (apart from Jesus) that such a seemingly small act of handing over his lunch could have had such a huge impact? In fact, in verse 9, when Andrew, one of the disciples, mentions that there is a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish, he immediately follows it up with “But what good is that with this huge crowd?” (NLT). Well, the five thousand very hungry people who likely had a long walk home they would not have been looking forward to on an empty stomach, who were fed to satisfaction as a result of this sacrifice, definitely saw the good in it a couple of hours later!

I also think of the story of Albert McMakin, the farmer who had recently become a Christian, and persuaded people to go to a meeting to hear about Jesus, filling his truck with people who were interested. Among them was one who was a bit harder to persuade, but who he eventually convinced by letting that person drive the truck. Albert’s guest went to that meeting, and another, and another, and gave his life to Jesus Christ. That guest was Billy Graham, one of the most influential Christian leaders on the 20th century, who went on to preach to millions in person, and billions if you count media broadcasts.

Our actions have ripple effects that we may never foresee or know about, and our lack of knowledge will not stop the action from ultimately leading to the effect. In a lot of cases, we will be powerless to stop the ripple effect, in the same way that if we throw a stone into a pond, we are unable to stop the concentric circles that ripple outward from the point where the stone lands in the pond. This should not make us an anxious mess before we do anything though, for fear that it can lead to terrible consequences. However, it should make us think, pray, and then act wisely and thoughtfully.

A key point I also want to make is that when God calls us to act, He sees the whole picture in a way that we may not. As such, when we obey, irrespective of how small the action appears to be, it may lead to a chain of events on a scale that could blow our minds. And even if it doesn’t, obeying God and having the privilege to serve the Creator of the universe should be reward enough.

If there is something that repeatedly prevents you from obeying and acting according to His will, whether it is fear, anxiety, worry, doubt, whatever, ask God to help you deal with it, or show you how you can, or possibly who can help with this. Because we may not know who or what is eagerly anticipating, or even desperately needing our action to take place. Conversely, we may not know who could be adversely affected by our negative actions. But knowing or not knowing should not be what motivates us, it should ultimately be whether or not our actions please God.

I pray that we are able to walk and act with the consciousness that we are God’s children, working in partnership with Him. May we be humbled that He has chosen us, but also awed at the reach our actions can have as a result of this, and consciously act in this knowledge and realisation. May God help and strengthen us as we do so.