Imagine with me, if you will, the following scenarios: You placed an ad in Craig’s List to sell your Jeep. Weeks pass and no one comes but then there’s a phone call from a man who wants to come look at it. He comes with his wife, they buy the Jeep and in the process you learn that she is someone you met over 30 years earlier. Her mother had opened her home to your cowboy Bible studies. A friendship renewed!
Then there was the time you stopped in a restaurant in a small town in norther California. As your husband comes through the door and approaches the counter, a man sitting there sees the words on his belt buckle “Jesus Is Lord”, falls to his knees and repents because he has been running from God.
One other time, you find yourself stopping in a pharmacy and meet a young woman who is obviously upset. You ask to pray for her and she bursts into tears. You pray, the Lord lifts her burden and you leave.
All of these, and others, were life changing moments for us and for those we encountered. They were divine appointments that the Lord orchestrated and we were blessed to be a part of.
I’ve been looking at people who encountered Jesus. Each one started out as a normal day, normal routine but they encountered a divine appointment. Some were moved by what Jesus did and others by what Jesus said.
Remember the Samaritan woman? Her life and the life of her town were changed by the words of Jesus. Jesus had stopped on His journey at the town well when He met a woman.
“Many of the Samaritan people in that town believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman had told them about him. She had told them, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 The Samaritans went to Jesus. They begged him to stay with them. So he stayed there two days. 41 Many more people became believers because of the things he said.42 The people said to the woman, “First we believed in Jesus because of what you told us. But now we believe because we heard him ourselves. We know now that he really is the one who will save the world.” John 4:39-42 ERV
And then there was the man at the pool who had been lame – His life was changed by the words “take up your bed and walk”. Jesus was just walking through town when he met this man.
“Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, … 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”…8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath” John 5:1-9 NLT
And then there was Zacchaeus. He started his day by attending a parade; he heard that there was a famous man coming through town that day and he wanted to see what He looked like. It was a life changing event.
“Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” 6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled…9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:1-10 NLT
We are here to be an ambassador, a representative for Christ. Be open to divine set-ups. These are life changing moments for you and those you meet.