Background
The world is a complex place. Although I don't subscribe to the doctrine of meticulous providence/divine determinism--the belief that God has sovereignly predetermined every single event in the world--it is clear that God can, and does step into our lives like a master chess player, even overriding our "free will" (i.e., Genesis 20:6) when he determines in his own wisdom that there is a need to manipulate a situation to accomplish his good purposes. Once in a while we get to witness how he strategically moves the chess pieces around to ensure a victory.
In my last post, I mentioned that during my time as a chaplain in the jails of Orange County, California, I witnessed and documented a number of situations that I would call "divine appointments." I defined a divine appointment as a specific act of grace in which God arranges a meeting or circumstance in our lives, often to reveal himself in a very personal way. I made three observations about the purpose of such intercessions by God.
1. A divine appointment is often a calling to obedience and trust
2. A divine appointment is an opportunity to glorify God.
3. A divine appointment is a reason to give thanks.
In the following posts, you'll meet three inmates for whom God arranged to reveal his love for them in special ways. Let's begin. Meet Javier.
Javier
During the church services and Bible studies with the inmates, we would hand out prayer request cards on which they could also request a chaplain visit. Once a week I would go into the little office/cubbyhole on the second floor of Men’s Central jail and send a deputy to call out those inmates who had requested a visit.
One young man named Javier, who looked to be about twenty years old, came in to see me. When he arrived at my office, he seemed a bit confused because he didn’t remember requesting a chaplain visit and wasn’t quite sure why I called him in. When I showed him his chaplain-request card, he looked a bit mystified but he shrugged his shoulders and began to tell me a brief story of how he got into some trouble and about how his parents had hired a private lawyer to represent him.
Javier comes from a working-class Mexican-American family who really didn’t have the financial where-with-all for a private lawyer. My advice to him was simply this, “Javier, you need to stop victimizing people. I don't know who you victimized with your criminal activities, but now you’re victimizing your family.” Then I gave him a fairly standard "fatherly" exhortation about accepting responsibility for his actions and suggested that he consider trusting in the faithfulness of God. (I emphasized that my counsel was purely spiritual in nature, not legal advice.) As he left, I let him know that my prayer team would be praying for his upcoming court date with the judge.
About a month later, as I was paging through the inmate cards I noticed that Javier had requested another chaplain visit, so I called him in. He was excited to tell me that shortly after our last talk, he was sitting on his bunk at 3am, unable to sleep, reading his Bible. He mentioned he was mindlessly reading “something about kings.” (Obviously, whatever he was reading was not resonating with him). He told me that he set his open Bible down on the bunk and stood up for a moment to stretch his legs. When he sat back down, the pages of his Bible had been turned to Psalm 91.
Just to be clear, there is no mechanical explanation for the turning of the pages of his Bible. There are no windows in the cells and no significant air flow that would cause the pages of a book to turn. Javier picked up his Bible and began to read.
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, (Psalm 91:1-5 NIV)
If you say, "The LORD is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. (Psalm 91:9-12 NIV)
Javier wanted me to know that, because of the comfort and courage he received from the words of God in Psalm 91, he called his parents the next day, telling them to get rid of the expensive lawyer, and informing them that he was going to put his trust in God.
For his next court appointment, Javier went in with a public defender (and with God -both work free of charge). He said he presented himself humbly before the judge, owning up to his crimes, trusting in God, and prepared to accept whatever decision would be handed down. He wanted to share with me his joy because the judge was merciful and gave him a very favorable sentence under the circumstances.
We both rejoiced in the goodness and faithfulness of a God who cared enough to intervene in Javier's life, sending the Holy Spirit to encourage him that sleepless night in his cell, and for His work in preparing a merciful heart in the judge. I believe that God rewarded Javier for his obedience to the subtle call to trust him. As Javier was leaving my office, I encouraged him to find a quiet moment to thank God for his faithfulness.
Final Thought
We should know that when we see God moving in a situation, perhaps revealing to us one single divine work, it is likely that he, like a chess master, has been working behind the scenes in thousands of situations to bring that one event to pass. All the proof you need to verify the truth of that statement can be found in the Christmas story. It begins in the book of Genesis.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given"
Merry Christmas to all.
Next Post: Divine Appointments: William
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