Appointments

Zaccheus
I imagine that sometime before Joshua, God summoned two angels. “Guard that sprout,” He told them.

Through the earthquake that brought the walls of Jerico down and the armies marching by. Through drought, flood, storms, wild animals, highway construction. While the foundation of the new Jerico was laid. Protected from traveling people and livestock. The little sapling grew into a mature tree with limbs that extend over the highway.

Then the little man running beside the road to get around the crowd.

“So he ran ahead and climbed a Sycamore fig tree….” —Luke 19:4

God said, “Let him through! I have an appointment to meet him.”

And God made sure he had the resources to keep his appointment.

Abraham
When Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, he gathered the wood, fire, and his son. Then at just the right time,

“Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns;…” —Genesis 22:13

That ram didn’t just happen to be there—it was prepared by God for that exact moment.

God had an appointment to meet with Abraham.

Jonah
Jonah tried to run from God. In his running, God sent a tempest and Jonah found himself in the midst of a raging sea

“and the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah” —Jonah 1:17

and bring him back to his mission.

Even in Jonah’s disobedience, God arranged a way to redirect him.

Because God had an appointment to meet the Ninevites.

Even until now
Then there is Peter’s miraculous catch of fish, the calling of Levi, the guard who was assigned to watch the imprisoned Paul. Scripture is filled with examples of “coincidences” that are orchestrated by God in the fulfillment of His plan to redeem the world.

God is not finished making and keeping appointments.

As I look back on my past, I see that none of the events that shaped and directed me happened in isolation. Those things were all part of a bigger picture. I have found that

“God causes all things to work together for good…” —Romans 8:28.

God has used the path I’ve walked – the victories and failures, joys and pains – to accomplish His plan. Sometimes this is wonderful. Sometimes it is painful. But everything that has happened in my life shares one thing in common.

They all opened the door to my next appointment.

A Cell and a Scrap of Paper

Recently, in jail, a man moved into my cell.

He had been held in classification for nearly a week because of computer issues. He was first assigned to a different cell, but said it was too dirty. A deputy suggested he move in with “the white guy.”

So into my cell he came.

I had spent the better part of the day writing Bible verse references on small scraps of paper and placing them in a zip-lock bag. My habit was to hand them out during free time.

That night I was asked to lead the first “Prayer Call” on our cell block in months.

Back in the cell, during a conversation about forgiveness and righteousness, I reached into the bag and blindly selected a verse and handed it to him.

It read: “Romans 10:9”

(“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”)

He looked at it and said, “Are you kidding me? Romans 10:9? That’s my sign.”

Years earlier, during his first time in jail at seventeen, he had tattooed “Romans 10:9” on his shoulder.

He told me he had been praying that god — whichever one was real — would send him a sign.

Computer glitches.
A dirty cell.
A deputy’s suggestion.
A zip-lock bag.
A random scrap of paper.

God had already prepared the tree.
He had already prepared the ram.
He had already prepared the fish.

And apparently, He prepares classification delays too.

God is not finished making and keeping appointments.