DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

"Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy....So when Paul's sister's son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul." (Acts 23:13, 16)

Have you ever found yourself at the right place at the right time to be of help to someone in need? Paul's nephew was such a demonstration of this. He heard of the plot to assassinate the Apostle. He was the right person in the right place at the right time, and he helped save Paul's life.

Just this past week, Mildred and I found ourselves in such a situation. We had just pulled into a parking space at Safeway when we notice an elderly man clinging for dear life to a handicapped sign post. We immediately went to him because it looked like he was in dire straits. "No one will help me," were the first words out of his mouth. Other people then gathered and someone called 911. We stayed with him until the ambulance took him to the hospital emergency room. We were in the right place at the right time.

Some would call these occurrences mere coincidence. But as a believer in the Lord Jesus, I think they are more than that. I believe they are divine appointments in God's providence that guides our path to help someone.

We could be like the priest and Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan, and walk on by, ignoring the opportunity to minister. Who know but that God has put us in that place for His purposes? We can make all kinds of excuses to avoid getting involved, like Queen Esther who was afraid to go to King Ahasuerus because the King had not called for her for the last month. She knew that her life was a risk. But, as Mordecai said to Esther, "Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14). In other words, Mordecai said, perhaps God has place you as queen for this very purpose – to save the Jewish nation from annihilation.

We don't always know God's purposes for being where we are at a given time, but our lives are not ordered by chance, but by the very purpose of God. May our spirits always be sensitive to these "divine opportunities" to be God's representative as He guides our steps.

Love, Dad