We have all been participants in divine appointments. Some call them coincidences. I am not a big believer in coincidence. I do like the word serendipity, but I figure most serendipitous events are really divine appointments.
An example is how I met "he who wishes to remain unnamed on FB, " heretofore known as "he who wishes." Some of you will find this convoluted thinking, but bear with me. Christmas break of my junior year, on my way to buy books for winter quarter, I had a car wreck. I was not viewing this as a divine appointment. At that point it was just the result of poor driving in pouring rain by an elderly woman from Russellville, KY. I was not happy.
Injuries caused me to miss the first weeks of a short quarter. Upon my return to school, I looked around for someone whose notes I could borrow to try to get caught up. As I stood in the hall on crutches, and with blackened eyes, "he who wishes" walked past and very debonairly said, "hi, Melinda." Shyly, I replied, "hi." He walked a few feet past me, returned and said, "your name is not Melinda, is it?" I said, "no." I can be quite the social pygmy.
I knew him to be an excellent student ~ in a previous class, I had gotten a 94 on a test, which was a C because the teacher always graded on the curve, and "he who wishes" had make a perfect score~ so I asked if he would be willing to loan me his notes. He agreed. Had I realized what poor handwriting he had, or that another girls' name would be scribbled in the margins, perhaps I would have asked to borrow someone else's notes. But, then there was that divine appointment that needed to be met. We have been married 37 years. I wonder how many failed marriages would have succeeded if the meeting of those involved had been considered divine appointment instead of coincidence.
Bathrooms in churches always seem crowded. In our old church building, they were extremely so. Oftentimes, people would complain about that, but my mother, on more than one occasion, used that opportunity to meet new friends. If we had had spacious bathrooms, Mom would have missed some important divine appointments, and her life would have been diminished had she missed out on the opportunity of knowing and loving those new people. I wonder how much complaining would be unrealized if inconveniences were seen as divine appointment.
Several weeks ago, I was walking at Radnor with a friend. We were short of our destination when I told her that I just did not have it in me that morning to continue. We turned around. When we arrived at the parking lot, I saw a friend with whom I had graduated high school. She lives in Atlanta. I have not seen her in years. It was a short but joyful reunion. Had I not finished my walk early, I would have missed her. What a lovely divine appointment.
This morning at Radnor, I felt rushed. I needed to get to the store. I have work to do around the house. (Yeah, I know, I'm spending time blogging that I could be using to get my "chores" done. Well, today, blogging is my divine appointment. If I fail to meet this appointment, I might become ill from cleaner fumes or something.) I debated with myself about turning around or continuing. Today, my divine appointment was to be met as a result of continuing instead of turning around. As I walked on, I was blessed by what I consider the glory of God bursting forth.
So, I'm glad I met my divine appointment this morning. This glimpse of the beauty of God's good creation would have been there for the viewing, but I would have missed it had I turned around.
As I was leaving Radnor, I struck up a short conversation with a woman who was taking a photo of a much smaller and less spectaculor spider web. I told her of this one beyond the entrance to the lake trail. She was excited to hear of it. Perhaps, she got her picture. Maybe, just maybe, she
considered running into me as a divine appointment.
So, you can have your coincidences. I'll take my divine
appointments. Somehow, believing the divine is involved in
the inconveniences, delays, and "accidents" in my life, gives them all more meaning and purpose. There are countless divine appointments that I don't recognize as such, but I live in gratitude for each and every one.
So, on this day, I wish for you wonderful divine appointments and,
blessings
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