Divine Appointments

This week has been very interesting. I have come into contact with folks in many different situations in which God was very active in our midst. I had three different opportunities to talk about the Lord in three different settings. As a Christian counselor, there is an expectation that those who profess Christ as Lord share the same faith and outlook on life. However, I also counsel those who do not share my beliefs and most sessions are uneventful. On Monday, one of my clients who has some serious struggles picked up a book from the waiting room of the church where my office is located. It was from the "Left Behind" series. She found it very interesting and asked to borrow it. This opened the door for even more questions and further discussion. Some of the questions were focused on topics that people typically ask. (i.e. Why does God allow suffering?) Other questions were a bit deeper and I was thankful that my seminary education was paying off! As the client left my office, she commented that she would like to have more discussions about Christianity. I was grateful that some seeds were planted and pray for the Spirit to continue to water them. The following day I went to anoint with oil and pray for a young man who drowned last week. He is the boyfriend of one of my husband's nieces. He made a poor choice in the swimming pool after my husband's niece went into the house for a minute. He somehow became submerged in the deep end of the pool for approximately five minutes. He did not know how to swim. As of this writing he is in the ICU at the hospital fighting for his life. When I arrived I met the young man's family. His parents were divorced and his father had come from Pennsylvania to be with his son. After we prayed together, I discovered that the father is a strong Christian. He told me that about 1 month ago, he had shared the Lord with his son and the young man accepted Christ. The Lord knew this event was going to happen and while we pray that this young man will recover, even if he doesn't it is a comfort to know he will be with the Lord. Even more ironic is that one of this young man's relatives was a former client of mine who had dropped out of counseling. On Wednesday I went grocery shopping. As I was checking out, the cashier noticed a necklace I was wearing which has the word, "FAITH" on it. She commented, "Oh, I preached about that last week." When I inquired if she was a pastor she stated that she was a lay preacher and visited various churches of different denominations where ever she was asked to speak. She added that her husband was also involved in ministry leading Bible studies and writing. I happened to look at the name tag of young man who was bagging my groceries and his name was Ezekiel. It is easy for some to dismiss this series of events that occurred three days in a row as merely coincidence. However, just last Sunday the pastor of our home church was preaching about how God is involved in our lives everyday. The Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation speak about "divine appointments." These appointments can be with angelic hosts (i.e. The angel telling Mary of Christ's birth in Luke 1:26-38) or enemies in battle (i.e. Joshua and the battle of Jericho in Joshua 5:13-6:27) or even with everyday people (i.e. Jesus giving directions to Peter and John to make preparations for the Passover and describing the man they would meet and the place he would show them in Luke 22:7-13) The point is that God wants us to be open and available to the movement of His Spirit. We are His ambassadors on earth and he wants to work through us to make Himself known to the world. (2 Corinthians 5:20) Are we willing to be available? If so, stand back and see what God will do!
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Sheree