Divine Appointments
Every other week or so I try and have some one on one time with my kids. Recently I took Ethan (who’s four) to McDonalds for some ice-cream. Afterward, he wanted to play in the play park. As I sat there another couple came in with a child about the same age as my son. The kids immediately started playing together and I started talking with the couple because we were the only adults in the room. After a lull in the conversation the couple started talking with each other. Because they were just a few feet away I could hear their conversation quite clearly.
He said to her, “I can’t believe she is now a born-again!” “Me too,” she replied, “I didn’t realize she had converted. What do those born-agains believe anyway?” “I don’t know,” he replied.
For a moment, I wondered if I should say anything. After all, they weren’t talking to me. But they weren’t exactly whispering either! It was one of those awkward moments where I didn’t know what to say, but I knew I should say something. This was an opportunity to say something about Christ that I couldn’t pass up. I said a quick prayer and then opened my mouth.
“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation….but I consider myself to be a born-again Christian.” “Oh really?” they said. “Yes,” I went on, “But being born-again isn’t a certain type of Christian, according to Jesus, it’s what it means to be a Christian. Jesus said, ‘No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again’ (John 3:16).”
At that moment, the man pulled out a tract from his pocket and said, “It’s strange that we’re having this conversation, because we just bumped into an old friend who believes the same thing you do. She gave us this pamphlet an hour ago.” He hadn’t yet read it and so I asked him if he minded me explaining it to them. He agreed and so I shared in more detail the good news of how to born-again by trusting in Christ for salvation.
The experience reminded me how God works: We are just one link in a chain for someone’s spiritual journey to Christ. Here I was opening my mouth not knowing that another believer had been talking with them about the same truth not more than an hour before. And, whoever this person was, she had been faithful in opening her mouth, not knowing that I would happen to reinforce the message later that same day.
Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5:17). And what is his work? Drawing men to Jesus (John 6:44) by the Holy Spirit (John 15:26). He desires “all to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). That doesn’t mean all will be saved because God requires that each one of us individually and personally put our faith in Christ in order to receive this gift of grace and salvation: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8).
Make no mistake, God is at work in everyone’s life. And in a mysterious way, God works through ordinary people like you and me.
So…this week, keep alert to those divine appointments that God might bring your way. Maybe it’ll be someone you work with, or someone you work out with. Maybe it’ll be a neighbour, a classmate, a friend, or a complete stranger. Be open, and be available.
