Layers of Impact

 It became apparent to me today, that I have “layers” of impact.  Layers, that filter what I take in and absorb from life and others.

Have you ever heard a good quote, sermon, thought, Bible lesson – anything that has impacted you in some way? You might have thought, “Wow, that’s good.” Usually when I find myself thinking that I like something I’ve heard, the impact on my life is minimal. Maybe it stays with me a day, a week, or a month. But then it fades.

If I hear something or experience something that prompts me to write down what I’ve gone through or heard – I’m usually impacted a little deeper. I want to remember what it was that I felt or thought. Oftentimes, I’m impacted for longer periods of time; a month – 6 months – even up to a year.

There are things in life that I’ve experienced that have taken root deep in my heart. There are things I’ve heard that have struck me so intently that I’ve gotten tears in my eyes or throat. I’ve been impacted deeply. These times and these things tend to stay with me for years or perhaps my lifetime because of the deep emotion that goes with the knowledge that came to me.

Layers of impact.

Maybe that’s why I tend to pour my heart out in written word sometimes. Because I want to remember. I want to change.

 
Maybe that’s why sometimes it takes us as people many, many times to get the message that God intends for us to get….because we simply didn’t let it penetrate deeper into our hearts. It only got to the outside layer and we shrugged it off or simply forgot about it over time. I think that’s why repetition helps. It’s why we teach our children the same lesson over and over again. It’s why Pastors drill home the same point over and over again. Because we need it.

I think we all have different layers. Some of us have put on more layers than others. Based on what we’ve gone through and how we’ve been hurt, we’ve protected ourselves from anything getting through to hurt us again. Yet in the process of trying not to be hurt, we’ve buffered ourselves from getting the good, encouraging, and inspiring lessons too.

I don’t know about you…but I don’t want to have to go through heartache and painful lessons over and over again just so that I’m impacted. I want to feel what God wants me to feel, learn what He wants me to learn, and act how He wants me to act….as soon as possible so that I can avoid the harder lessons that might lay in wait for me.

So I will try to be intentional about what I hear and experience in life. I will try to evaluate it and discern if it’s an “outer layer” lesson or an “inner layer” lesson. May God give me the wisdom to see and know the difference.