Your Place in History

A quarter of a century down

The number Two Thousand Twenty-Five feels like a big one. Including the year 2000, we’re now 25 years in to a century that our great-grandkids will learn about in history.

We can look back at the previous century and see how its first 25 years were defined by World War, the Russian Revolution, major inventions, the accomplishments of America’s great businessmen, our daring public works projects, and more.

Time will tell which stories of these last 25 years will stand out historically, but the explosion of the internet, 9/11 and the series of Middle East wars and uprisings, and Covid and the response to it feel like safe bets to make the list.

But this is just the big picture view

Sure, 100 years ago, those major events were all happening. And most of those alive at the time probably didn’t realize how America’s prosperity was about to give way to the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, or how the political climates in Germany and Russia were poised to bring about another world war.

No, they just lived.

Some of my great-grandparents had recently made their way to America. Others were born and raised here and were coming into adulthood, starting the careers and building the relationships that would define their lives and eventually lead to families and children and would, in a way, culminate in me sitting here writing this.

You, likewise, can point back to what your people were doing 100 years ago and all that occurred that led to you reading (or listening) to this right now.

My congregation was a couple of decades into its existence, meeting at the very site where we meet today. When I walk in each Sunday, I’m worshiping at the same spot where faithful Christians have been worshiping for over a century. We who meet there today carry on what they began.

Your congregation has a history, too, and it was driven by men and women making history in their own small way through faithfulness to God through the ups and downs.

We have precious little ability to impact world history on a broad scale. But we have enormous influence on the history we create for those in our immediate vicinity.

This is the beauty of Biblical accounts like Ruth. Naomi and Ruth had no idea they were going to be memorialized in Scripture and remembered thousands of years later as impactful players in the lineage of King David and eventually the Messiah. They were just two women navigating a “dust bowl” of their own and trying to make it through the crisis of losing their husbands. Little acts of faithfulness changed history.

Esther, of course, impacted history on a broader scale, but we similarly learn of the impact of day-to-day decisions in Mordecai’s famous question in 4:14—"And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” Maybe God hasn’t put us on thrones. But he has placed us where we are, as spouses, parents, church members, citizens, and so forth, and maybe it was for such a time as this.

So, keep building

Realize just how much of an impact your faithfulness can have on people 100 years from now, people you’ll never meet. We understand the impact of the little things when it comes to unfaithfulness. Sadly, we’ve all seen families be blown up for generations due to one man or woman’s selfish act. But day-by-day, year-by-year faithfulness is just as impactful in the opposite direction.

You might think you’re just trying to make it through each day, navigating family life, employment, a world going crazy, and all the challenges of life today. But by God’s grace, you’re impacting so much more than you think. He makes much of everything we give Him, whether great or small.

Every time you attend a church function, you’re making an impact. Every time you take a younger Christian under your wing, you’re making an impact. Every time you discipline your kid, you’re making an impact. Every time you keep the family devo habit going, you’re making an impact. Every time you talk Bible with a stranger or invite them to church, you’re making an impact. History is shaped by millions of little decisions.

So, keep making history by maintaining your solid foundation and building on it with righteous choices. Our day-in, day-out faithfulness might not make any history book or make us the subject of a bestselling biography. But it can change the world to the people who follow in our footsteps.

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Notes

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