I was preparing to head out the door for a scheduled appointment, and as usual, I did my checklist.
Wallet? Check!
Keys? Check!
Computer bag? Check!
Tool bag? I won’t need it. It’s just a meeting.
Pants? Check!
So, jump in the car, and head to my appointment.
Personally, when I have a meeting, I want to be early. Today’s meeting is at 1:00 pm. However, the location is about an hour and a half away. So, I’ll leave at 11 am.
On the way, about 30 minutes into the trip, I ran into a little construction traffic. No big idea, it only took about seven minutes off my time.
About one hour into the trip, I received a phone call from my wife.
In case you want to know, yes, it was a hands-free call.
She just wanted to know what my status was, and how long would it take me to get there.
Suddenly, about several minutes into the conversation, my car began to shake very badly.
“Oh No!”, I said.
She asked, “What’s wrong?”
As I pulled over to the freeway shoulder, I told her that I thought I had a flat tire. I do not like flat tires, but flat tires on the freeway are the worst.
As I waited several moments for the traffic to clear, every car that passed by shook my car, and when a truck passed, it felt like it was going to suck my car into the right lane.
I finally exited the vehicle and hurried to look at the wheels on the passenger side of the car. In my haste, I only glanced at the driver’s side front and rear tires. When I reached the passenger side, to my surprise, the tires looked fine.
As I waited for the traffic to clear on the driver’s side, I once again looked at both tires before getting back into my vehicle. All of the tires were fine.
I told my wife that perhaps the problem was a section of the road was bumpy, and I was going to try and drive the car again.
I started off slow, and everything seemed fine, but as I picked up speed the violent shaking returned. I then decided to put my hazard lights on and drive about 45 miles per hour. I continued to drive 45 mph until I reached the next exit, then I drove to the first gas station I could find.
When I reached the gas station, I got out of the car and did a thorough walk-a-round. When I looked at my front driver’s side wheel, I noticed something strange. The front wheel only had three out of five lug nuts that holds on the wheel. I felt even worst after I took out my tire lug wrench, only to realize that one of the three remaining lugs was loose. That means that technically, I was only riding on two out of the five lug nuts.
So, did I call roadside assist? Of course not. I’m useful with my hands, and I changed several broken lugs on my old car before.
Just remove the tire, tap out the lugs, put the new ones in, and replace the wheel. No big deal.
The problem was, where was the nearest Auto parts store? So, I looked on my GPS and found an auto parts store 13 minutes away.
Since I was no longer on the freeway, I carefully drove about 35 mph all the way to the store. I made it safely to the store, walked in, and purchased two lugs with the nuts. By that time, it was almost time for my meeting, so I called and said that I would be about 30 minutes late due to car trouble.
When I popped the trunk of my car I got a moment of clarity.
I left my tool bag at home!
Needless to say, that quick job turned into a long, frustrating, and expensive ordeal. If only I brought my tool bag, I would have avoided many of the problems I encountered.
In life, GOD has appointments/ or assignments for us.
No matter if you are, Sir-slug-a-lot, or Super-spirit, we all experience problems hearing, obeying, or completing the assignments GOD has for us.
Let’s look at a famous person in the Bible as an example.
Let me first start by saying that I believe the Apostle Paul was one of the greatest Bible teachers who ever lived. Paul obtained more revelation from GOD in his pinky finger, than I have in my whole body. With that being said, Paul would be the first to tell you that he wasn’t perfect.
None of us are.
Paul’s assignment was to take the Gospel of Jesus to, “the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.” (Acts 9:15 KJV).
However, Paul was a Jew of Jews. Paul loved being Jewish. He loved the word of GOD, he loved the law of Moses, he loved the Jewish tradition, and most of all, Paul loved the Jewish people.
There was no doubt that Paul often prayed and was led by the Spirit of GOD. GOD gave Paul instructions on where to go, and where not to go. In Acts 16:6, Paul was forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia. But later, Paul received a vision from GOD of a man saying, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” (Acts16:9 KJV). Although Paul was called to Gentile nations, he would almost always find himself on the Sabbath discussing the word of GOD with the local Jews.
From all accounts, Paul was a small man in stature, however, Paul was one of the bravest men who ever lived. In many of the cities Paul visited, he started by always ministering to the Jews. There were some that would accept him, but others who didn’t. And when I say that didn’t accept him, oftentimes they either wanted to kill him or tried to kill him. Despite this, Paul would continue preaching the word of GOD to the Jews in those cities.
On the other hand, when Paul preached to the Gentiles, his message was mostly well received. Let’s face it, the Gentiles were involved in all types of bad behavior. They were involved in the worship of false gods, sexual, and other types of immorality. From a natural perspective, one would think that Paul would have had a better opportunity to win over the Jews in those cities than the Gentiles.
But GOD!
GOD is all-wise. GOD is the one who gave Paul his assignment and appointed him with the grace to complete it. Although Paul spent a lot of time with Jews, most of the books that he wrote in the Bible were to Gentiles. And might I add, most of his greatest success was with the Gentiles.
GOD told Paul that his assignment was to go to Rome. But Paul had a desire to go to Jerusalem for the Passover. There were several times that Paul received word that he should not go to Jerusalem. In Acts 20, Paul said, “I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there.” (Acts 20:22 KJV). When they went to Tyre, they met some disciples. They said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:4 KJV). The third time that Paul was warned not to go to Jerusalem, was when a Prophet named Agabus said that the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man that owned the girdle he was holding and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. Agabus was holding Paul’s girdle.
Despite all of those warnings, Paul went to Jerusalem anyway, and the city got in an uproar when they saw Paul in the Temple.
Before the people could harm him, Paul was eventually detained by the Romans. This began the long journey to Rome that Paul would be bound as a prisoner, caught in a bad storm on the sea that would destroy the ship, and leave passengers and crew shipwrecked on an island. When shipwrecked on the island, Paul was then bitten by a deadly viper. Finally, Paul eventually made it to Rome. Thank GOD for HIS grace and mercy. After a lot of detours and delays, Paul finally made it to his divine appointment.
GOD has a divine appointment for all of us. The first step is to get before GOD and find out what is our appointment. The second step is to find out from GOD when to do it. GOD may tell you HIS plan, but it may not be the right time for you to start it. The third step is to get to where you’re supposed to be, at the time you’re supposed to be there.
I eventually made it to my appointment. I was about two hours late. We finished our meeting right before they were scheduled to end their workday. With all the struggles I had making it to the meeting, I was excited that everything worked out. It didn’t happen in the time frame I wanted it to, but the most important thing is that it did happen.
I believe that this is what GOD wants in our lives. HE wants us to make our divine appointments. Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7 KJV). Paul completed his divine appointment.
It’s our responsibility that we complete ours.
G. Edward Wyche