Divine Appointments

by Tim Howard

Have you ever been on your way to a specific location, with a specific goal in mind and a set agenda – when you meet someone who alters those plans?

This happens to me often. If I’m going to a store for an item my wife sent me to purchase or simply shopping for something I need – it’s not uncommon for someone to say ‘Hello and then ask: “Do you have a minute to talk?” (That ‘minute’ usually turns into many minutes) In my chosen vocation these encounters are recurring occurrences that happen without notice and frequently.

There was a time when I perceived these encounters to

be intrusions and interruptions to my pre-planned schedule but I have learned that on many occasions – they are Divine Appointments.

Divine appointments impact a person’s life and influence them in a significant way. God sets up divine appointments and they always have a purpose.

They can happen at church – In a coffee shop – On a college campus – In a mall or virtually anywhere.  You definitely don’t want to miss a divine appointment but you can if you have no margins in your life.

Not only does God arrange these appointments with others – He wants to have a Divine Appointment with you. Revelation 3 tells us that He is knocking on the door and wants to talk.

I can remember times when my boss would knock on my door and ask me to step into his office – to have a talk.  I feared the encounter because I assumed the worst.  

Some people may experience that feeling when someone says to them: “ God wants to speak with you.” They may wonder:  Why would the Creator of the world want to speak with me?  Am I in trouble?  Did I do something wrong?  What does He want to correct?

Let me assure you - His main desire for setting a daily appointment with you is to express His love and to help you navigate life’s journey.  That’s why I encourage you to accept His invitation and keep your appointment with Him.  All you need to do is show up!

God wants to set regular appointments with you and orchestrate divine chance encounters for you to meet with others. There is someone He wants you to help, a person who has some important part to play in your life. Make people your priority.

Making and taking time for people can be difficult. Especially if a person has a full schedule – lots of plans – goals set in cement and a personality that resists change. I’m not suggesting we do away with our plans but simply make room for adjustments.  

Some of the greatest things to happen in your life and some of the greatest encounters you are yet to experience will happen outside your ‘plan.’ They will not take place because you plot a wonderful course to follow but because you were willing to alter your plans and follow the lead of the one who knows what is important.

Prov. 19:21 “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.”

My suggestion: Don’t schedule your day so tightly that there’s no room for God to insert an unexpected opportunity to touch someone’s life or experience something out of the ordinary. Those unscheduled and unplanned happenings may open a door to a divine visitation.