Saturday, October 22, 2005

divine appointments




It was a gorgeous autumn afternoon my senior year in college. I sat in the grass and leaned against one of the campus buildings, soaking up the beauty of the day and worshiping God. He'd blessed me in so many ways--taught me, taken care of me, given me delight in His Word. All I wanted to do was make Him happy.

About fifty feet away I spotted a girl walking along the sidewalk. As I watched her progress, a strong impression broke into my thoughts.

"You should go talk to her."

"I can't go talk to her," I argued in my mind. "I don't even know her. What would I say? She'll think I'm weird."

"You should go talk to her."

"I'll pray for her. That will do just as well, won't it?" I figured if I debated the matter in my mind long enough, she'd turn the corner and move out of sight. Then it would be too late. I sensed I was resisting the Holy Spirit, but I really didn't want to make a fool of myself. He understood my feelings. Surely He'd forgive me.

She approached the corner, turned, and . . . sat on a bench in plain sight. Alone.

I sighed. "Okay, fine, Lord. But I still don't know what to say." I prayed for wisdom as I headed toward her. Unfortunately no great revelation presented itself. So I just walked up to her and said, "Hi. Um, I just saw you walk by, and . . ." I laughed nervously, "Well, this may sound dumb, but I just wanted to tell you God loves you."

She stared at me in silence for a few moments, and I felt certain she was looking for antennae or some other evidence to prove I was from Mars. But then she shook her head and smiled. "I don't believe this! I've been thinking about God a lot lately, but I had so many questions and didn't know who to ask. I prayed He would send someone to talk to me."

Now it was my turn to stare in silence. I'd come so close to blowing it. I'd almost excused myself from God's assignment. I'd almost missed being the answer to someone's prayer.

It's hard to be bold and speak up about our faith. We worry about people's reactions, and sometimes they do mock or ridicule us. But I learned an important lesson that day. Reactions aren't my concern. Obedience is. I don't even have to say something impressive. The Truth speaks for itself. And I get to experience the amazing joy of being part of God's plan.

Had any divine appointments lately? I'd love to hear about them!

2 comments:

michael snyder said...

"Reactions aren't my concern. Obedience is."

Boy, did I need to hear that today?

Excellent post, as usual.

Hrencshi said...

thank u