Divine Appointments...

"Do you need some help lighting that fire?" I asked the Dutch couple camping next door to us at Mesa Verde, CO. I had watched the young man for a while as he tried to light the three sticks of wood haphazardly thrown on a bed of coals with matches. It seemed obvious to us that he had never done this before. So, we helped...and in helping, we once more saw the Lord's hand in bringing us to this specific campsite on this specific day for this specific purpose: to witness to His love and concern for all people, but specifically for the people of Gambela. Louise shared the Lord's call on our lives with the woman...who turned out to be the young man's mum...who knows what the Lord will do with her words?

Every day, as we drive, we read through our daily readings and pray. We always ask the Lord to protect us of course (especially our car!), but we also ask that He be glorified in our lives in some way during the day and that He will grant us an opportunity to witness to Him. We call these opportunities Divine Appointments. And we have had several. Just a seed...that's all one can hope to sow in a short space of time...but God is the One Who waters and grants growth.

As we drove through the Painted Desert yesterday, we saw how the slightest amount of rain could clothe the plains with green.

If God so clothes the desert (my convenient paraphrase), how much more will He not clothe those who do not yet know Him with salvation? If He can grant life to plants in the midst of harsh conditions, then surely He can bring the seeds we sow to maturity in Him? And so we pray for our Divine Appointments...that they might find and be found by Him.

Francis Asbury once wrote: "My desire is to live more to God today than yesterday, and to be more holy this day than the last." This echoes our prayers as we drive through this huge and gorgeous country....and, we pray, may it become an echo in the lives of those we witness to as well...in His time.