A newsletter came in the mail today from someone I met on the mission field in Africa, and it got me thinking. Uh oh, you know how dangerous that can be!

For privacy reasons I’ll call her only by her first name, Erin. I met Erin in Malawi about 3 years ago, and worked with her for two weeks. She’s a very intelligent, multi talented, deeply committed servant of Jesus. Since then I haven’t seen her or spoken to her, but we have e-mailed a bit. In her newsletter she talked about where God is leading her next, and how He has brought people into her life in amazing ways.

It got me to thinking about my life. I’ve lived a lot longer than Erin has and have seen the same thing in my life over and over again. In fact when I look back I can see what you could call a chain of souls stretching through the years. People God brought into my life who have blessed me so much, or who have given me an opportunity I wouldn’t have had otherwise. People who opened their hearts and minds and very souls to me.

Without the people who make up the links in that chain of souls, I’d be lost, spiritually and in most other ways as well. Not only did they give me insight and wisdom, but also the opportunity to pour my meager life into theirs, making all of us stronger as a result.

The really startling fact is that this chain of souls stretches back long before I was born. To the people who trained and fought with my father in two wars, helping him to stay alive. To my grandparents, and beyond. In that chain I see the souls of millions of unknown believers whose faithfulness and sacrifices kept the faith alive and brought the Gospel to me so that I too could be saved.

How much do I owe to those in that chain of souls? Far more than I could say or ever repay. I’m sure it’s much more than I’ll ever know in this life. In so many ways I am a product of that chain.

Beyond that, I’m a link in a few chains myself, as we all are, thanks be to God! Erin is a link in the chain of my life, and I hope I’m a link in hers as well.

Use me O Lord, and let me be a faithful link in many more lives, before my life is through.