God Divined Appointments

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I nearly missed it.  Do you ever find yourself running late?  Have you ever been speed walking towards the bus stop only to see your bus pulling away from the curb?  You are sure the driver saw you in his rearview mirror as he left you running after him, waving frantically.  But you missed it.  It is an awful feeling to miss it.  Magnify this by a thousand or so when you miss a God divined appointment.  An appointment He has orchestrated just for you and that individual about to feel His touch.  You don’t want to miss this!

As an office worker at the Mission, my role is primarily behind the scenes; paperwork, filing, answering calls, etc.  Yet, sometimes God uses me, even me, to help another to see Him.  Outstanding!  Outrageous!  Only God!  This past Friday, I had a call from the front desk, there was a woman from our emergency shelter in need of help to fill out paperwork for housing.  Immediately, my inner response is, am I the most qualified person for this?  Perhaps it should be someone in the Learning Center – line was busy.  Okay, Lord, perhaps it should be someone from our New Faith Women and Children’s Center – voicemail.  Third time’s a charm, I tried the Admissions Office – surely, they will be available – the phone line rang with no answer.  After trying without success to pass this lady onto someone more qualified, she was stuck with me, the self-labeled under qualified.

I soon found that the lady could not read or write.  I completed the form for her and once done, I asked her two things:  1) can I pray for you and 2) can I share your information with our Admissions Department – sometimes they are able to reach out to a housing contact and help with that initial connection.  Her answer, unequivocally, and resoundingly, no, to both.  She was a bit abrupt, but her situation was tough.  I regrouped and said, “Okay, I will still pray for you, on my own, but I will not pass your details onto anyone.”

Would you believe she came back that same afternoon?  God is so good.  She asked, “Did you pass my information onto anyone?  Within an hour I got a call about an apartment for me to see.”  I said, “I prayed.”  She said God answered and I reminded her that He loves to hear from us.  God’s word reminds us in 2 Corinthians 12-9 His grace is sufficient for you, for His power is made perfect in our weakness.

I went home for the weekend and forgot about our brief interaction, until Monday morning when the lady showed up again.  She first apologized for being rude with me; she explained to me that she had never been homeless before.  That sunk in for me, I thought, “Wow, God I can’t imagine how scary it must be to be homeless for the first time.”  She then said, “Would you pass my information onto your Admissions Department?”  I delighted in this – my two wishes had been answered, I had prayed for her and she accepted our offer of help.

Today, her homeless days are numbered.  Her chances are very good that she will receive her God ordained apartment.  With the help of our Admissions Department, she has an apartment that looks like it will be a good fit for her.  I can’t wait to see what God will do.  Don’t miss your God divined appointment, He wants to use you too.  Not because you are qualified, but because He is.

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Susan Strickland
Executive Assistant

Categories: Perry's Blog