Aides to Destiny

A man found Joseph wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?” He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?” “They have moved from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.

I have heard a lot of people speak up hoarding information of their specialized knowledge for fear that their ideas would be stolen. Many have a tendency of making sure they do not tell you anything pertaining what they do because they want monopoly of supply.

In as much as this perspective may do some initial good, on the long run it robs the world of productivity. I am rarely, if ever, afraid of telling what I did to get what I have. I think it comes from a healthy self-estimation. To replicate the success of a person goes beyond mere imitation to the point that you actually become the person in question. Success is the person and not just an act. If this is true then total imitation is not possible.

When I am asked how I achieved success in an area I count it an opportunity to point a person to a direction that may help in his or her future. Folks often need direction and I hate it when I cannot help out.

Nobody becomes a success on his own. There are always people that point you in the direction of success. Sometimes they do not even know that that is what they are doing! Why don’t you be that person in another’s life? Why don’t you point someone towards his or her success?

       The idea behind the Butterfly Effect is that when a butterfly flaps its wings the effect is felt in distant galaxies. I think this speaks more to people – as we are so intricately connected to one another – than to butterflies. Our actions, even when we do not mean them to, affect people that we have no clue exist. Now imagine if you, like that nameless man in the wilderness, direct a wandering Joseph to his appointment of destiny. How much good would you have done to the future of the soon famine-stricken world and ultimately the purposes of God?