Correction
Unfortunately, the email for last month's post provided the wrong link (as did the "corrected email"). Purely "pilot error." My apologies. If you missed it, below is the link to last month's post - an amazing story of how God supernaturally revealed himself to a lost and desperate young man named Javier.
Background
A little more than a year ago, my wife and I went to one of the Rolling Stones farewell concerts in Los Angeles. During the concert, Mick Jagger shared with the audience that it was exactly sixty years ago to the day that he and Keith Richards bumped into each other on a train platform in Dartford. He said they started chatting about forming a band and... well... the rest is history.
There are some encounters that are probably nothing more than chance. While nothing is out of God's purview, I believe some things are truly just coincidence. It's a complex world. Sometimes things just happen in our lives. But I also believe there are events in our lives that are undeniable “God-things”.
In the last post, we saw where God revealed his faithfulness to a young man named Javier through a supernatural work of the Spirit. Today I’d like to share with you another story of how God stepped into a situation to reveal his heart for the lost and the reason the apostle Paul calls him "the Father of compassion, the God of all comfort."
In my four years of ministry in the various facilities in the Orange County, California jails, there were three times when only one person showed up for a church service or a Bible study. I learned that each time this happened, God had something pretty amazing in store.
One day I was scheduled for two, one-hour Bible study sessions in the Medical Mod of one of the men's facilities. I was well-prepared for the lesson and as usual, I brought my guitar so we could begin the hour with a couple of worship songs.
Nine inmates showed up for the first hour. I was delighted because, for security reasons, the maximum attendees typically allowed in this facility was six. I pulled out my guitar, handed out the lyrics to a couple of worship songs and we began to sing. In the small, narrow room, the singing reverberated off the walls making for a very lively (and loud) time of worship. We then opened our Bibles to begin the study. The men were attentive and engaged in the lesson. The discussions were animated and robust. It was a wonderful hour of learning and fellowship. God's Spirit was palpable.
After the hour was complete and the first group left, I was on cloud nine. Then, at the appointed time for the second Bible study to begin, one lone inmate came through the door and sat down.
Meet William.
William
As I mentioned, God had taught me to be watchful for his purpose when he brings only one person to meet with me so I knew that God had something in mind. I decided to set my lesson aside and begin the hour by simply praying for God to bless our time together. William and I just started chatting.
Within the first five minutes, I learned that William was adopted and that when his adoptive mother died, his adoptive father abandoned him. I also learned that the reason he was in the medical mod was because he’s an insulin-dependent diabetic, requiring daily regimen of blood tests and insulin shots. William was also addicted to meth and, obviously, in trouble with the law.
I smiled and shook my head as it became evident why God had arranged this divine appointment. Adopted – diabetic – meth addict – criminal activity. That was my own son's exact resume!
The God of All Comfort
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Cor1:3-4 NIV)
The adoption process was a challenging and difficult time for my wife and me. In the end, while we truly believe that God matched us with our son, we also knew that adopted children can be like ticking time-bombs with some deep-seated insecurities that can manifest themselves in a number of unpredictable ways.
Our son was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of five. A Type-1 diabetic faces a lifetime of daily medical treatments and the potential for serious long-term health issues. As the parents of a diabetic child, we went through a crash-course to learn how to provide for his diabetic care and his general health and welfare.
Our son began to struggle with drugs when he was in junior high school and began to run afoul of the law. I won’t burden you with the details but, suffice to say, we went through a time of “extreme parenting”. Yet, through all of those struggles, we found solace in the "Father of compassion, the God of all comfort" during those very challenging times.
Pay it Forward
In the verse from 2 Corinthians above, note the short phrase “so that”. With those words, God is about to tell us why he comforts us in our troubles. “So that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” In other words, one reason for God's comforting grace during difficult times is so that we can "pay it forward" by sharing with others the same comfort we received from God.
In this case, I believe God was calling me to share with William the consolation and strength that my wife and I received during the seasons of struggle with our son. I believe God arranged this meeting with William--this divine appointment--so that I could reflect God's comforting grace to this troubled young man.
In all honesty, I don’t remember any specific words I shared with William during that hour. I certainly couldn’t replace his parents. I couldn’t cure his diabetes, I had no power over his addiction. I couldn’t be his lawyer--but I could commiserate with him and let him know, at least for that hour, that he wasn’t alone. I shared with him my struggles with my son and I reminded him of God's love for the downtrodden, of how he seeks his lost sheep. I hope and pray that he realized how God cared enough about him to connect us together in that divine appointment.
Final Thought
I can chalk the meeting between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards up to chance. But I think you’d agree that the odds of this one-on-one encounter with William being a coincidence were way beyond just random chance. There was no doubt in my mind that God had arranged this meeting. This was a divine appointment.
Finally, there’s a bit of an interesting twist to all of this. Having been put up for adoption and then abandoned, William knew the pain of being unloved by one's father. As he was leaving the room to go back to his cell, he stopped for a moment at the door, turned back and said to me, “Just keep loving your son.”
Looking back, I’m not sure who was really sent to provide comfort/counsel to whom that day.
Next Post: Divine Appointments: Nati
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