As he came near the city, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.
Acts 9:3 NCV
We looked yesterday at an appointment in which Isaiah had a wake-up call. As we end this week on divine appointments we look at someone whose divine appointment, from all those we have seen this week, is perhaps the most profound; in the sense that he would be used from this divine appointment to transform the then known Roman world. It was said of him he had turned the world upside down.
Yet he is the most unlikely of candidates to have received a divine appointment. The person we are talking about is a man called Saul whose name, of course, was later changed to Paul.
Paul’s background was that he was a Pharisee and very religious. He was also a very educated young man with an ideology and faith along with a passion which knew no boundaries. This man would actually hold coats and clocks of passers-by so they could throw stones at a man called Stephen.
If that wasn’t enough he then obtained letters of authority to go about arresting anyone who claimed to be a follower of Jesus. No one was beyond his reach. His passion and his drive blinded him to anything else. Unfortunately today we still see that form of fanaticism so perhaps more divine appointments are needed.
As this young man was heading towards Damascus with an array of people ready for prosecution this young man was about to have an encounter with the divine. Such would be the impact of this divine appointment that as we said his life would never be the same again.
I truly believe that in these different days as we said yesterday we are looking and searching for answers. We are desperate for a vaccine to end this virus and desperate for us all to get back to some form of normal life whatever that will look like.
The holiday season is upon us and we are desperate to pack up a suitcase and go visiting places and having fun. My wife and I love going to National Trust places and of course, lots of those are closed and even our holiday this year was cancelled. We have a special wedding anniversary at the end of the year which we had an appointment to go to, a destination which now seems impossible.
Back to Paul as he travels down the road the word suddenly appears in the manuscript recording this event. Jut like Isaiah it was sudden and unexpected and how often in life that is how events happen.
You might want to ask a question and you would be entitled to ask why this man who was arresting followers of Jesus should have an encounter with Jesus. The answer is God loved this young man even though he was persecuting his own followers. The wonderful news for this young man and you and me is that God loved him and us so much that he sent Jesus down to die for all the things we do wrong (including arresting followers of Jesus) and he wanted to give Paul an opportunity to follow Jesus. These opportunities and divine appointments are often called Kyros moments which change the destinies of people and places.
The good news as we leave this week is that Jesus wants everyone to have a divine appointment with Him a Kyros moment of your own. It may not be as spectacular as those we have seen this week but I can promise you it will be as effective.
Do you need a divine appointment? Then just ask, for he that asks receives. The condition is that you believe, that if you ask you will receive. It is called faith.
For those who are following Jesus, we are awaiting like Enoch (talked on earlier this week) our divine appointment of the return of Jesus but in the meantime, God would still love to have divine appointments with us on a daily basis.
Let us make a decision that every day we will book a divine appointment and who knows like Cilla Black’s programme was called we might just get Surprise, Surprise.
Stay Safe and Blessed.