Divine Appointments

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)

Do you think things just happen by accident? Or have you ever had the feeling that something happened for a reason – perhaps with some purpose and direction behind it?

Early this week, someone reached out to me. He found me on LinkedIn, and he realized we had at least three mutual connections. When he reached out to me, he explained the connection and the desire to chat more both about my business and about my faith.

We scheduled time to get together for lunch near my office on Wednesday, and we met for the first time as we shared a meal. During lunch, we had the chance to introduce ourselves, and I had the opportunity to hear more about this man and to help him as he considers making a career change.

An hour later, we went our separate ways. I returned to my office with a sense of wonderment. I don’t think this encounter happened by accident.

I don’t know exactly what the result of our conversation will be. This man may end up working at my company. Perhaps, he will join the Stretched Men Group (although we didn’t talk very much about this). And maybe, our conversation will simply be the encouragement he needed to take the next step in his career progression.

This was just one of my encounters last week. I talked to many, many other people at the office, at a job site, at the doctor’s office, at the gym, on the phone.

What if I treated each of these encounters as though they were divine appointments?

When Paul tells us to “make the most of every opportunity,” I believe he is reminding us to make the most of every phone call, of every email exchange, and of every conversation. God has a purpose for our interactions. And we have blessing of being part of the divine.

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.”

Paul – Colossians 4:5 (NIV)