My wife’s office recently had a potluck luncheon and I prepared a vegan “chicken” salad for her to take to the luncheon. When the luncheon was over, there was a good amount of the salad left over, so my wife left the office with the leftovers, intending to bring them home. Lunch for the next couple of days! But, on her way home, something happened. As she made her way home, she came upon an old Asian woman who appeared to be homeless. Feeling a nudge from the Holy Spirit, my wife asked her if she was hungry, but the woman spoke no English. My wife took out the bowl of salad and showed it to the woman, who accepted it and smiled. Although my wife could not communicate with this woman verbally, through her act of compassion my wife communicated to the woman the love of Christ. I believe it was a divine appointment.
In Acts 8:26-40, the apostle Philip encountered a divine appointment. He was told by an angel of the Lord to head south on the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza. Obediently, Philip got up and went. On the way, he came upon an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an official of the court of the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch was reading from the prophet Isaiah and not really understanding the meaning of what he read. Philip explained the Scriptures to the eunuch, telling him the good news about Jesus Christ. As a result of this divine appointment, the eunuch accepted Christ and was baptized.
God sometimes gives us divine appointments. He puts people in our paths so that we may show or tell them the love and good news of Jesus. These appointments often come at times and in places where we would least expect it. They sometimes can even seem like an interruption, taking us away from what we were doing in order to do God’s work. God creates these appointments. What we do with them is up to us. We can look at them as inconvenient and even try to ignore them. Or, we can do what the Holy Spirit is nudging us to do and stop to do God’s will. When we do, we become God’s instrument, and our obedience can be the difference between life and death for someone who needs to see or hear the gospel.
A Worshiper's Journal 