The impact of your life 1400 years later

Have you ever wondered if God has purposes for your life that will be fulfilled 1,400 years from now?
I believe so. For your life and mine.

Yes, perhaps by then there will be a new heaven and a new earth. I hope so. If so, then the events that happen to you today will have their consequences then, for your own good.

I say this because Paul writes, «For our momentary light affliction is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory» (2 Cor. 4:17). When Paul speaks of «momentary light affliction,» he is referring to all the painful experiences of our lives—the same thing he is referring to when he mentions «the sufferings of this present time» in (Rom. 8:18). All the sufferings of this present time.

«"In God's governance of the world, everything is connected to everything else.".

And when Paul says that this life experience «is preparing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs it all,» he means that there is a connection between our present experience and our future experience of glory. And this connection is not just a sequence of events, nor is it just evidence that we are moving toward glory.

Paul would hardly be comforted if I said that the point was this: «The way I endure my back pain and the way you endure your beheading is proof that we are both going to glory.» That is true. But that is not the main idea of the word «prepare» (katergazetai). His martyrdom will have a different effect on his glory than my backache will have on mine. And I will be even happier because of his reward.

Everything is connected to everything.

But what if Christ still hasn't returned in 1,400 years? Will your life have an impact in that world? I think so. In God's management of the world, everything is connected to everything else.

Consider this illustration.

When I was in Ethiopia last November, I was told about an Ethiopian missionary who went to Pakistan. He came to a city with the aim of evangelizing and planting a church, even though Pakistan is not open to such missionary work.

However, when he met with the city leaders and they learned that he was from Ethiopia, they said something like, "You can do your business here. We owe you hospitality and openness, because your people gave shelter to Mohammed's family 1,400 years ago.".

The Land of Justice

Since then, I have been trying to trace the history behind this incredible claim. In 2008, a symposium was held on this very tradition. Scholars from Princeton, Cornell, Rutgers, and the National Museum of Ethiopia came together to discuss the new historical findings.

In Islamic history and tradition, Ethiopia (Axum or Abyssinia) is known as the "Shelter of the First Migration" of Muslims. During the lifetime of Muhammad (570–632), his followers were persecuted by pagan tribes in the area of Mecca.

«"What we do in obedience to Christ in this life is never in vain.".

Dr. Said Samatar, a professor of African history at Rutgers University, explained: «King Armah (Negash) made the decision to provide refuge to the family of the Prophet Mohammed who had arrived in Axum fleeing pagan persecutors.» King Armah was a Christian and had a reputation for generosity. Dr. Samatar described how «the Christian king refused bribes and provided refuge to the fleeing Muslims in Axum.».

«Muhammad did not forget Negash’s generosity,» he said, «and in the Islamic traditions of the prophet (hadith), which were recorded and passed down from generation to generation, it is stated that „Abyssinia (Ethiopia) is a land of justice, where no one is oppressed.“».

Therefore, for many Muslims even today, 1,400 years later, "Ethiopia is synonymous with freedom from persecution and liberation from fear.".

Think about your impact

Did the Christians of Abyssinia think 1,400 years ago that their actions would have an impact on the glory of Christ and the good of the world fourteen centuries later, when a Pakistani mayor opened his city to an Ethiopian Christian missionary?

So I conclude: What we do in obedience to Christ in this life is never in vain. Our actions are like pebbles thrown into the lake of history. No matter how small our pebble, God controls the waves. And He creates on the surface of the water exactly the pattern He wants.

Your pebbles matter. Cast them with daily faithfulness, and leave the waves to God.