“Faith isn’t linear Faith is exponential.”- Mark Batterson
Mark Batterson begins Chapter 16 (“Chain Reactions”) of Chase the Lion by citing a research study on domino chain reaction. Published in 1983 by Lorne Whitehead, the unique significance of the study lays in the discovery that a domino possesses the capability of knocking over a domino one-and-a-half times its size!
Similarly, in math we note two types of progression- linear and exponential. For example, taking thirty linear three-foot steps takes you ninety feet from your starting point. In contrast, taking thirty exponential steps enables you to circle the earth twenty-six times.
Therefore, although your two-inch domino dream appears trite to you, it makes all the difference when projected across time and space. As Mark previously wrote:
“Don’t despise the day of small beginnings! . . . If you do little things like they’re big things, God will do big things like they’re little things.”
However, we tend to think of our decisions in present-tense terms– right here, right now. But God spans the generations. After all, the author reminds us, He’s the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!
As a result, Mark explains, we find it hard to fathom the domino effect of our chosen options:
“Every decision we make has a domino effect way beyond our ability to predict or control. We can’t predict when or how, but our seeds of faith will reap a harvest somehow, someday, someway. And it’s often when and where we least expect it.”
Today’s question: Would you describe your current level of faith as linear or exponential? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “What God does for us”
