The idea of the "butterfly effect" is an intriguing one. Popularly, it's the concept that a butterfly flapping its wings in China could cause a storm in the United States. Scientists in the field of chaos theory call it "sensitive dependence on initial conditions." The basic idea is this: objects and events are linked in a web of causality, and even a minor - minute! - change in one factor could cause a radically different outcome elsewhere in the "web."
There's an interesting exploration of the concept in the movie, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." In one sequence in that film, the narrator "what ifs" about a series of incidents. If any single one of the factors involved had started out slightly different, then a significant accident would have been avoided. And, ultimately, the whole story of Benjamin Button might have turned out differently.
I guess you could say that I'm a beleiver in the Butterfly Effect. And it helps me trust God more. Let me explain what I mean.
I didn't go to church on Easter Sunday. I sure would have liked to. It turns out that the days leading up to Easter Sunday would be the best days for me to take a ministry trip up to Kampong Thom and Siem Reap. A week earlier, and one of the key people I needed to meet wouldn't have been there. A week later, and we'd be bumping up against Khmer New Year, and again probably some people I wanted to see wouldn't have been available. So I made the trip when I did, with my final responsibilities in Siem Reap ending on Saturday evening. Now, I could have gone to church (somewhere) in Siem Reap, but I decided I would try to hustle back to Phnom Penh as early as possible and at least try to join in the fellowship lunch our Cambodian church was having after the morning service.
The bus usually takes about 6 hours from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. The earliest bus I could find left at 6:30am. But then I checked into a 15-passenger van run by one of the bus companies. It was supposed to be non-stop and they claimed it would make the trip in 4 hours. Since it left at 7:30am, it would give me an extra hour in the morning, and still get me home earlier than the bus. I shelled out the cost of the van (more than double the cost of the bus), believing it worth the price.
I have to admit that it did not escape me that this van was run by the "Red Dragon" bus company. I've never been too eager to ride with a company with that mascot, as Revelation 12 does come to mind.
As it turned out, I was at the bus company's office bright and early on Sunday morning ready for the trip home. I expected the trip to be non-stop. I expected the driver to go at speeds that would contribute meaningfully to my prayer life. And I expected to be in Phnom Penh no later than 12:00 noon.
As we began the journey, I realized that the driver wasn't going dramatically faster than a bus would. Then, when we made a 20-minute stop in the middle of the journey, I noticed my frustration level increasing significantly. I had made a bad choice. I should have taken the bus. It would have been cheaper. It would have actually been more comfortable. And I would have actually made it to Phnom Penh at about the same time.
As I inwardly seethed at this rather unfortunate turn of events, I thankfully remembered the Butterfly Effect. If I had taken the bus, I would have saved money and been more comfortable. But then the "initial conditions" would have been different, and who knows what the outcome might have been. Perhaps - and this is a big perhaps, I admit - I would have been involved in an accident, or perhaps the bus had a pickpocket on it who would have stolen my passport, or...well, who knows. That's the whole point of the Butterfly Effect. It's really hard to imagine what might have happened if the initial conditions were anything different than what they were.
Here's where faith comes in. I believe that Jesus is Lord of the Butterfly Effect. If He permitted me to get on an unexpectedly slow and extremely irritating 15-passenger van instead of my usual bus, I have to accept that He's still got my best interests in mind. I have no idea what the outcome might have been had it been otherwise. But since Jesus is irrevocably committed to my well-being, I choose to accept that maybe this outcome - frustrating as it was - might have been a way of protecting me from something far more unpleasant.
As it turned out, I did make it for the tail end of our fellowship meal. Time enough to eat some ham and dye a couple Easter eggs with my son. And I got a good reminder that our living Lord reigns supreme over everything, even slowpoke vans and flapping butterflies.
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