Ripple Effect

Day two hundred twenty-four

I have been listening to a CD of a talk given by Gerald Lund on personal revelation.  The talk was directed towards single adults, but I am finding it very interesting and informative for myself too.  He addresses questions like: What is Personal Revelation? How do you know it is Personal Revelation? How do I increase Personal Revelation in my life? It has got me thinking about my own journey in seeking understanding and receiving personal revelation.  I am so grateful for this gift we have been given.  Knowing that the Lord blesses us with the ability to know truths and to seek direction from Him is amazing.  My prayer this morning was an acknowledgement to the Lord that I am grateful for all the times that He has blessed me with personal revelation in my life.  It also included a request for some direction in my current situation.  The great thing is, I know He will answer!

Judges 19-21
We have come to the end of the Book of Judges and what is probably one of the most horrific stories in the Old Testament.  The story starts out with a Levite and his concubine.  Verse 2 tells us that the concubine went whoring and then went to her father's house for 4 months.  It is interesting to note that the phrase "played the whore" has also been translated as "she became angry" with her husband.  What a difference this would make to her character!

After four months the Levite decides to go and get his wife.  He stays with his father-in-law for a few days then travels on to Gibeah.  This is where the story gets ugly.  In Gibeah wicked men surround the man's house the Levite is staying with and demand that the Levite be given to them so that they can have sexual relations with him.  (Sounds like Lot and the Angelic messengers story).  Instead of giving the Levite to the mob, the man of the house offers the crowd his virgin daughter and the concubine of his guest.  The mob take the concubine and abuse her all night.  Upon her release she returns and makes it to the door of the house and dies. In the morning her husband find her, takes her home, cuts her up into 12 pieces and ships these pieces to the 12 tribes of Israel requesting that something be done about this.

What lessons are taught in this story so far?  How does it apply to me personally?  At first, the story seems to be a commentary on the wickedness of the people of that time.  But as I studied I was led to some other thoughts: 

Be careful how you judge the character of someone based on the words of another.  Being angry is definitely different than being a whore.

The Levite had the advice of his father-in-law to stay longer and his servant tried to lead him away form Gibeah, but he wouldn't listen.  Listen to what others have to say, you never know if the Lord is guiding you through another!

The hardest point for me to reflect upon was, have I ever sacrificed another to protect myself?  I can remember as a child pointing the blame on another to protect myself.  It did not lead to the person's death, but I know that it created trust issues between us, and who knows what other effects it had on them. 

This brought to mind the ripple effect.  The ripple effect is a term used to describe a situation where, like the ever expanding ripples across water when an object is dropped into it, an effect from our actions can be followed outwards incrementally.  In other words, our actions can have far-reaching effects on the world around us.

We pick up the story in chapter 20 with the tribes gathering to go against the tribe of Benjamin because they will not turn over the men that committed the crime. Why would they protect these guys?  Why do WE lie for others? Why do WE not turn our friends in when they do something wrong? Why do WE cover for others when we know it's wrong? There are lots of why's in this story!

The story goes on to tell us that by the end of the fighting the tribe of Benjamin had lost 25,100 men and was left with only 600 men alive.  Talk about a ripple effect!  The actions of the mob of men who could not control their sexual urges almost led to the complete destruction of a whole tribe!

Then in chapter 21 we learn that some more shady business goes on to try to get wives for the Benjamites that are left.  Men killed, women kidnapped, is it okay to right a wrong with another wrong? When does it ever stop once you start down that path?

The last verse of chapter 21 sums it all up:  "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." 

"That which is right in his own eyes" That says a lot about how important it is that we have the Lord in our lives.  Our actions need to be right in His eyes, not just ours.  The interesting thing about the ripple effect is that it works in a positive way too.  Our positive actions can create the opportunity to effect many for good and even encourage others to do good.  When our actions are right in the eyes of the Lord then our ripples are positive.

My goal today is to leave positive ripples wherever I go.  Through my actions I want to leave others feeling good and give them the desire to continue the ripple effect in a positive way.  This will take effort and restraint on my part, but after studying the devastation that negative ripples can bring, I think it is worth it!