When my mission team was stranded (because our bus ran out of diesel) in-between Alamogordo, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas we could see nothing but desert for miles in any direction. A few of the guys decided to walk up the road to see if they could get help. The rest of us prayed and then had lunch. The guys did not come back for some time, but when they did they were brought back in an old Cadillac. You see, they had walked up the road out of sight and just as they arrived at a dirt cross road this gentleman in the Caddy drove up, stopped and offered to give them a ride into El Paso and bring them back with a can full of diesel to get us going again. Was this a miracle or what? That’s not the end of the story! The gentleman was the Regional Gideon Director and he had a trunk full of New Testament King James Bibles which he gave to us to give out as we felt led by the Lord to do. Now, you tell me, how could it be by chance or coincidence that this man would be on this dirt road in the middle of nowhere and meet up with our guys, purchase diesel, bring it back to us, and give us so many Bibles to boot?!
This was a divine appointment set up by God, yet we could have missed it if we had purchased enough diesel in Alamogordo to make it into El Paso or if the guys would not have walked up the road. It is so important to pay attention to the direction of the Holy Spirit or you may miss your divine appointments.
Another example of a divine appointment that happened to me was at Disneyland in 1988. After our mission team returned from Jamaica we decided to go to Disneyland on our way home to Oregon. When I was praying and reading my Bible the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that I would meet a lady on a bench on Tom Sawyer island. She would be wearing a sleeveless pink blouse. I was to share what our mission team did that year in Jamaica. When we arrived at Disneyland I wanted to go to Tom Sawyer island right away but sensed the Holy Spirit say to me, “Not yet”, so I followed my friends around on rides until lunch. After lunch I was impressed by the Lord that it was time so I headed for the island. I followed the trail over bridges, through the fort, in and out of caves, and then, as I exited a cave, there she was, a woman who appeared about 50 years old, wearing a sleeveless pink cotton shirt. I asked if I could sit and she said OK. I asked her where she was from and she said she had flown in from New York City to visit with her grandkids for a few days and she was scheduled to fly back the next day. She asked me where I was from and I shared about Jamaica, living there, working with Jamaicans to white wash a church inside and out, giving puppet shows to the local kids, and providing food and clothing for the poor. I explained that our mission organization believed that if you help someone with their physical needs they are more willing to listen to what you have to share about God. She was not a Christian but she listened to what I shared and pondered it all. I asked her if she would like to know Jesus like I did. Her grandkids came up and she thanked me for sharing with her. She said she would give it all more thought on her flight home. I encouraged her to seek out someone she knew that was a Christian and talk it over with them or to go to a church and speak with the pastor or its members. I asked her if she knew about the Times Square Church in Manhattan and she said she had heard of it. I encouraged her to check it out.
She did not become a Christian that day, but I was there to plant a seed to start her seeking the Lord. Was this divine appointment a failure? Definitely not, because God showed me where to go and who to see and I did just that. That was 35 years ago and I suppose she is about 85 years old now but I pray for her every time I think about her, and now I pray for her grandkids. You never know the far reaches divine appointments bring.
For instance, the following six divine appointments eventually brought about the conversion of millions around the world:
Divine Appointment #1
A Sunday School teacher named Edward Kimbal led one of his hyper students to the Lord. That boy’s name was Dwight L. Moody.
Divine Appointment #2
In his lifetime, Moody touched two continents for God and under Moody another man became a believer, Wilber Chapman.
Divine Appointment #3
Chapman preached to thousands and one day a professional ball player went to hear him. Billy Sunday gave his life over to the Lord and gave up baseball to preach.
Divine Appointment #4
Sunday was preaching at a meeting and a young man named Mordecai Ham heard him and accepted the Lord.
Divine Appointment #5
Ham was speaking in Charlotte, North Carolina when a 17 year old son of a farmer, Billy Frank, decided to go with his schoolmates and disrupt Ham’s meeting. Billy was so intrigued he came back the next night to hear more. He responded to the invitation to come forward and accept Christ. Billy Frank was born William Franklin Graham Jr., or the name we know him for, Billy Graham.
Divine Appointment #6
Graham preached to an estimated 2.2 billion people, in 185 countries, during his lifetime. 2.2 million people came forward at his crusades to accept Jesus and Lord and Savior…all because a Sunday School teacher was obedient and worked to bring his students to know Jesus.
What would have happened if Edward Kimbal did not teach that Sunday School class? You can never know the results of missing a divine appointment. Our goal should be to listen to the Holy Spirit as He directs us and seek out each divine appointment He arranges for us. Let’s pray that we will recognize each day’s divine appointment and do as the Spirit directs us.
“But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.” -1 Peter 3:15 AMP
Some information obtained from:
https://www.travisagnew.org/2013/07/22/the-chain-of-events-for-billy-grahams-conversion/
https://research.lifeway.com/2018/02/21/billy-grahams-life-ministry-by-the-numbers/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham
