praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned – Colossians 4:3 

What is a divine appointment?  A divine appointment is when God causes two paths to cross in order that two or more people would engage for the benefit of one or more people.  It could be for many reasons such as encouragement, guidance, correction, wisdom, or perhaps to create a wrinkle in time for the timing of a future event.  I like to refer to this as the Tapestry of God, a weaving together of lives for a temporary or permanent engagement.  This is not something that I have always been sensitive to, but over the last decade I have begun to recognize these encounters.  Conversations regarding business, marital problems, sick family members, were among some of the topics that had come into my life, but in a moment of clarity I realized that these were divine appointments and God was using my story to help others, though I was unaware of it at the time.  As I reflect on various encounters, it is easy to see the value for one or both people involved.  We all have a story that is still unfolding, but when we consider how we arrived at today, we will find parts of our story in another. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and told them that God would be using us to comfort others.

³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. ⁴ He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. ⁵ For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. ⁶ Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. ⁷ We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. – 2Corinthians 1:3-7    

Every since that epiphany, I have continually been sensitive to when these encounters are happening, in fact I have started to request them.  It really is quite amazing to me now how people I encounter are in the middle of a situation that is part of my story, or how they have walked a path that allows them to pour wisdom into me.  I think that God orchestrates these engagements as a demonstration of His love and further steps on our journey to become like Jesus.  As I now enter every day sensitive to what God might have planned, I have recognized ways to prepare for whomever I encounter.  Here are a few ways that we can practice this discipline in daily life:

1. First, start with morning prayer.  As part of morning prayer, ask God for divine appointments, gospel conversations, and to be able to step into someone’s faith journey.  Also, ask for the Lord to send you folks who can pour into you or offer guidance for whatever life circumstances are weighing on you.  What I learned in this practice is that once I became aware of the idea that God sends us divine appointments, I was able to reflect on past encounters and see how God worked in those relationships.  It is also important to be aware that they can happen in any context, school, work, grocery shopping, date night, even church. 
2. Second, recognize the common ground that we have with every person we encounter.  Our common ground is that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 8:29), both us and them are plagued by sin (Ephesians 2:1 – 4; John 3:16; Romans 3:23), and God desires for this person to repent and believe in the gospel (2Peter 3:9; Acts 17:22 – 31; John 3:16 – 18; Luke 5:32).  Finding our common ground convicts our hearts and leads us to a place where we can look at a person with compassion and have a genuine love for every lost soul (Matthew 9:36-38).  Our sin nature tends to put forth our sensibility to what offends us, but we can more easily overcome our selfish nature when we find our common ground with each person we encounter. 
3. Third, understand the dynamic of sowing and reaping and never forget that it is God who causes the growth and provides the gift of faith (1Corinthians 3:6-9).  Sometimes we are to sow so that others may reap, while other times we reap what others have sown (John 4:36-38).  We must try to discern this with the person we are speaking with as they may not be ready to follow Christ, but your role in the pre-evangelism is critical to the process.  Perhaps you share something that will stay in their mind for many years before it is acted upon.  One Apologist gave us the example of a pebble in your show that is a constant reminder until you remove the pebble.  However the encounter unfolds, we must do our part, then continue to pray if there will not be other follow up conversations.  
4. Fourth, beware of self-importance, the focus on “self” that can derail the engagement or cause it to be missed all together.  This can take many forms such as busyness, being judgmental, or having a poor attitude.  Busyness is worm as a badge of honor in our culture and the devil could not be more pleased.  Busyness often comes from being undiscipline with your time which is often fueled by an inflated view of yourself.  We need to not confuse busyness with productivity, slow down, create margin in your calendar for the unexpected, and seek to cultivate a heart to serve while pursuing holy productivity. 
5.  Fifth, recognize the common path.  Identify where your story and their story overlap (2Corinthians 1:3-5) and listen to what they share.  In the midst of a person pouring their heart out to you, there will be a temptation to cut them with a “me too” but fight that urge to focus on your self.  This tendency to interject is called “bracketing” and can cause a person to shut down, especially when they are hurting.  Let them tell their whole story by listening and be mindful of your body language. Do not allow your facial expression of body language to communicate that you are bored or have disengaged.  When it is time to contribute to the conversation, lead them to go deeper by asking an open ended question which may open up an even clearer understanding of why God brought this conversation to you.  This process is building the relationship, building trust, providing safe space for the person, and providing you with more time to hear the Holy Spirit’s leading. 
6. Sixth, believe in the power of the Gospel and the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12; 2Timothy 3:16).  When we read that the word of God is living and active, we must, if our faith is genuine, be able to testify to this truth by recognizing how the word has spoken to us, provided comfort, convicted our hearts, corrected my actions, was a source of encouragement, or shined a light on something that was hard to understand previously.  Every believer can point to an encounter with God through His word and we need to embrace that truth.  We tend to resort to conventional wisdom or human thinking when the person may need to hear the word of God.  After all, we know that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:15-17).  For this practice to really take root in your life, a person much care more of what God thinks than what people think.  In my experience, I have found that when using a phrase such as, “the Bible actually speaks to this situation…” or “Jesus addressed this very issue in the gospel of…” or something along those line.  Read, learn and internalize the word of God and speak with authority.  We can speak with grace and a tender heart (Colossians 4:6) while still speaking truth with authority. 

May God bless every conversation, every relationship, and every person who steps into our faith journey!

Prayer: Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.  Send us now into the world in peace and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart, through Christ our Lord. Amen!