cktimes.ca Archives for The Pastoral Lens
The Pastoral Lens
Divine Appointments
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
I was talking with my father-in-law on the phone recently. He lives in another community and we don't get to see him very often. So, phone conversations are usually the way we connect in between visits. It never ceases to amaze me how he can turn the ordinary into the supernatural. He is a person who lives his life in such a way as to expect God to work through him in the everyday things of life.He pulled his pick-up out of the garage one day and noticed that the tail pipe was dangling rather loosely. After making a call to change his plans he then decided to take the truck in for an estimate. He would normally take it to the dealership service department but on this day he decided to go to a smaller, local mechanic just a few miles from his home. Although usually quite busy, the serviceman took dad in right away and gave his assessment. While the repairs commenced, he retired to the waiting room where another man was seated.
"What are you in for?" dad asked the man pleasantly. After a few minutes of small talk the conversation took a very serious and supernatural turn. As it turned out, the young man talking with my father-in-law had recently suffered the sudden loss of a sibling due to a drug overdose. Amidst his grief, my father-in-law, a retired pastor, shared a message of hope with him from the Scriptures. For the next 60 minutes, they conversed about the comfort that God can bring in our times of sorrow. Amazingly, no other patron came into the waiting room of this busy auto repair shop during this critical time. The 2 men left with the clear sense that God had brought these strangers together.
Was this just chance circumstance or a divine appointment? I guess that would all depend on how you look at it. My father-in-law expects the Lord to work through him to touch other people who come across his path each day. Do I do the same? I am convinced that God does much, if not most, of His work through the regular and ordinary and not the miraculous. Never underestimate the power of a kind word, a card of thanks, a cherry pie, or even the warmth of a simple smile. God delights to use these simple jaunts into the ordinary as springboards to the less-travelled road to the extraordinary, or supernatural. As a Christian, I am mindful that I may be the only Bible some people in my community are reading. Are they getting the story they need? Only time, and the expectation that God is at work, will tell.
