Mark Batterson, visiting the Galapagos Islands with a team from his church, prayed for what he termed “a divine appointment.” He was hoping for an opportunity to share his faith and it wasn’t until the last day that something happened that was nothing short of amazing.
“On our last day, we got up early for a forty-five-minute bus trip across the island of Santa Cruz to catch an airport ferry to a neighboring island. There was only one paved road between the port city and the ferry, with virtually no civilization in between. In the middle of the island, in the middle of nowhere, we were surprised to see a hitchhiker standing by the side of the road. … Our bus driver pulled over and picked up a middle-aged islander named Raul. He was unshaven. It looked as if he had been walking for hours. And it was obvious he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.
“Raul could have taken a seat anywhere on the bus, but God sat him right next to Adam. Adam is one of the friendliest and most caring people I know. He was also one of the few people on our team who spoke fluent Spanish. And despite his own pain due to a C11 compression fracture from cliff jumping the day before, Adam sensed a divine appointment.
“In the course of their conversation, Raul told Adam that he had tried to commit suicide the day before. He tied cinder blocks around his ankles and planned on throwing himself into the ocean because his wife of thirty years had left him. Adam didn’t just understand what he said; he understood how he felt. Only a few years before, Adam’s wife of fifteen years had left him and he too had been suicidal.
“Raul told Adam that he felt like God was never there for him, but he had to admit that God was looking out for him on August 12, 2006. Raul finally found the God who had been chasing him his entire life” (Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase, pp. 130-131).
I often wonder how many of the people to whom I write are also in line for a divine appointment of their own. Our God is open and anxious to make himself known to every willing heart. I know.
He touched my life, half-way across the state of Texas, while heading east in the cab of my long-haul truck. My life was in shambles; in despair, I shouted, “GOD, WHAT DO YOU WHAT ME TO DO?” I heard no audible voice, but a distinct thought crossed my mind that was too real to be ignored. “All I want from you is the gift of a holy life.” And then, silence.
But it marked a turning point in my life, a divine encounter of my own. God, I discovered, was about to bring order out of my chaos. Within months I found a new sense of direction. It was for me a defining moment, the beginning of a series of events that brought me to where I am today.
Perhaps God has a divine appointment set for you as well. Could it be that you are only a prayer away from a divine encounter that could revolutionize your life? It begins with you, however, for God reveals himself only by invitation.
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