Was it the perfect set of coincidences or a divine appointment? En route to Galilee, Jesus made a point of passing through Samaria. His actions were considered taboo because the Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with each other. The Samaritans were disdained because of their mixed heritage and their corrupt religious ideology. Consequently, most Jewish people would have rather traveled around Samaria than through it. Not Jesus. He had an important errand to run, and the spiritual fate of an entire Samaritan city depended on it.
At noon Jesus rested at a well, weary and fatigued from His journey. A short time after His arrival, a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Through this “chance” encounter, a conversation started, and the woman accepted Christ as the Messiah. She even became an evangelist and spread the word throughout her city so many others were saved. This encounter was no coincidence. It was clearly a divine appointment.
Many of the circumstances and events we would dismiss as coincidences are really divine appointments. Through these appointments, God orchestrates His plan for our lives, sparing us from harm, intervening on our behalf, directing our steps, and opening doors as He sees fit. His way is perfect, but we must keep our eyes open as He leads.
Have you ever been late for work because of traffic or had a flat tire which caused you to miss an important appointment? Have you ever had water flood your basement, destroying your new carpet and everything in its path? We have all experienced circumstances we cannot explain away. Instead of dismissing them as meaningless inconveniences, let’s begin to see them as divine appointments: opportunities for God to get our attention and intervene in our lives. He knows what He is doing. The question is, will you be prepared to respond to Him when this happens?
Devotional by Pastor Jim Scudder, Jr.