20 years ago, I was on staff with a campus ministry at the University of California Santa Barbara. One day I was on campus and on my way to a meeting when God interrupted my schedule. I had stepped onto an elevator and before pushing the button for the third floor, I noticed a man hurrying to catch the elevator before the door closed. I held the door and invited him to jump on. I introduced myself and he said his name was Eugene. He was a visiting professor from Shanghai, China. We talked for a few moments before each of us had to move on.
But what’s interesting is from that encounter, I kept running into Eugene on campus. Over and over our paths kept crossing. Eventually we had lunch together and I asked Eugene if he was a Christian. He was not, but I invited him to a weekly investigative Bible study I was leading for international students. Amazingly, Eugene accepted my offer.
Eugene and I became friends. We invited him to celebrate Thanksgiving in our home. Eugene kept attending our Bible studies throughout the school year. At the end of the year, he invited me to travel to Shanghai to spend a couple of weeks with his family. God opened wonderful doors for me to share Christ with his family and friends. All these encounters occurred because one day God interrupted my schedule on an elevator.
Do you believe in “divine appointments?” Have you ever considered the fact that the traveler you with with on a plane, the waiter at your table, the clerk at the department store might be in your life by divine appointment?
Divine appointments are those times when God arranges lives to intersect at crucial moments. Divine appointments are those orchestrated interactions when you know in your heart God is asking you to do something and to do something now.
In Acts chapter 8 we see the story of Christ-follower named, Phillip. We learn that one day God interrupts his schedule so he can lead a stranger to Christ.
Acts 8:26-29“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
I am amazed at how far God will go to reach ONE person! I’m also amazed at the obedience required to win ONE person.
When the Holy Spirit prompts us to minister, he empowers us to carry it out. Where God guides, God provides.
The key to evangelism isn’t boldness, it is obedience. If we take the first step of obedience, the Spirit will guide us and empower us with boldness.
As Philip is walking next to the chariot he hears the man reading the prophet Isaiah and Philip knew at that moment that God had given him an open door. God had arranged this meeting between Philip and the Ethiopian. This is a DIVINE APPOINTMENT!
As Christians we simply pray for open doors, then we must keep alert to the opportunities God presents.
