Distraction of Divine Appointments
Commit your actions to the Lord, and you will succeed. Proverbs 16:3
“You were my divine appointment!” the woman said after we exchanged introductions and pleasantries while waiting in the grocery line. Before I knew it, we were sharing prayer concerns.
“Divine appointment?” I asked.
“Yes, I believe God schedules divine appointments for me each day,” she continued to explain. “However, I never know who or when. Sometimes it’s someone I know, other times a complete stranger.”
After this experience, I asked the Lord to reveal His divine appointments to me. These unexpected interactions happen everywhere: public transportation, restaurants, ladies’ rooms, doctors’ offices, anywhere! Some of these appointments are brief and offer encouragement only for the moment. Others are the beginning of a new relationship.
Several have occurred on airplanes. One particular time I sat next to a man who remained asleep most of the flight. We did not speak until the plane landed and we prepared to leave. Then, with one question, I found out this man’s brother had just died, and he was heading to the memorial. He allowed me to pray for him.
It can even happen online. You run across a post from a stranger that touches your heart. You reach out with a comment or a private message, and you make a divine connection.
Some might call these coincidences, while others refer to them as random interactions. However, recognizing them as divine requires intentionality with each encounter. This involves prayer, awareness, and courage (PAC).
- Pray each morning that God will reveal an opportunity to connect with someone.
- Awareness of these occasions means we must slow down enough to interact with others around us with simple greetings or words of gratitude.
- Finally, it takes courage to propose that question the Holy Spirit has prompted you to ask. It is typically the first words, or smile that open the door to sharing that makes this a divine encounter.
Where have you experienced divine appointments in your past? Where might you have missed an opportunity? They occur everywhere. It requires prayer, awareness, and courage. If we commit our actions to the Lord, He will allow us to succeed.
Dear Lord, You desire to use me as a vessel of light. Help me recognize the divine appointments in my day. Help me slow down, put away my phone, and put on spiritual glasses that allow me to see others as you do. Finally, I ask for the wisdom of what to say and the courage to say it. Amen.