by Ed Lyons
“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27
By its very name, a divine appointment is when an individual or a group of individuals meet one another not by chance, but by an orchestration of events governed by our heavenly Father.
We’ve all experienced divine appointments at some juncture in our lives. When we met our spouses, when we found the perfect job, and even when we found a ministry partner who complemented our talents and abilities.
Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12 that God is ultimately in charge of how the Body of Christ functions. We read in verse 6 that “there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.”
In March, our Lord enabled two of our ministry partners to work together to bring water to Jaac. A divine appointment to demonstrate that we are indeed many members, yet one body.
Mariel and Ken are preparing for a May wedding.
I was contacted early in the month by Mariel, a bride-to-be from Michigan. She and her fiance, Ken, acknowledged that they both had been very blessed by God and felt that they already had everything they needed. Instead of accepting personal wedding gifts, the couple invited their guests to donate to the drilling of a well in Jaac through Persecution Project Foundation.
Her only concern was that they might not raise enough money to cover the cost of an entire well.
I mentioned to Mariel that PPF had just received a first-time gift, designated for wells, from New Hope Community Church in Ohio. I explained how the gifts received from her wedding could be combined with New Hope’s donation. Lord-willing, we would then have enough to drill another well.
New Hope Community Church worship service.
Mariel excitedly agreed and quickly added New Hope’s name to her wedding registry. I sent the wedding website link to the pastors of New Hope to encourage them that their gift was being leveraged. The pastors were so excited that one of them posted a blog to the members of the congregation and included the link to Mariel’s wedding website.
I then sent Mariel a link to the pastor’s blog. She wrote back, “This is so cool. ; ) I feel tearful and goose bumps all at the same time. Thank you for partnering us with New Hope. I’m eager to see what our awesome God is going to do!”
Many members, one Body, and an awesome God orchetrating it all for His glory.
