The Appointment.

Appointments are meetings that we have intentionally made because we intend to keep them.  But what about the appointments that are made for us?

THE LORD makes appointments for us more often than we will ever know.  HE puts us in motion and nudges us in the right direction.

I know HE does.  I had one of those appointments today.

I am not inclined to pick up people walking along the highway, particularly men.  Today became one of those rare exceptions.

I was driving east on Highway 98 this morning.  I saw a man walking slowly.  He had a backpack and his long sleeved shirt was tied around his waist.  He was wearing a T-shirt or tank top and long pants.  He walked as though he were about to collapse.  As I approached him, I saw him stop, lean forward and put his hands on his legs just above his knees.  He looked like he was about to pass out.

This all happened in a populated, industrial area and it occurred to me if he fell over, surely someone would see him and give him a hand.  So, I did the Christian thing and drove past.  The next 2 or 3 miles were filled with unease.

What if:
     a) Everyone did what I did - passed him up thinking someone else would help him?
     b) He really did collapse and no one saw him and he's laying in the ditch?
     c) He's a serial killer -  NAH!  If he is, he's too worn out to hurt me.  I think I'm bigger than he is anyway.

So, while pondering the what ifs, I found the next intersection and went back to see what had happened to the man.  I saw him walking, more like trudging.  I pulled over to the side of the road and parked waiting for him to catch up.  While he walked toward the van, I studied him and I once again asked THE LORD if I really was supposed to do this.

When the man came close, I got out of the van and approached him.  The scariest thing about him was that he smelled of cigarettes.  He was obviously in need of a bath but he did not smell like it.  He looked like he was just worn out.  I asked him where he was going and he told me to his sister's house just down the road a ways.  (In the country that phrase can mean anywhere from a hundred yards to a hundred miles.) 

There was an odd peace about him, or maybe it was simply the presence of THE LORD.  The man told me his name was Bo and he had been walking from south Louisiana, easily a hundred miles (and I grouse about having to park too far away from the door of the mall).  He said that he did not do drugs nor drink and there was a child like honesty that made me believe him.  He told me a couple of stories about law enforcement who had given him rides to county lines after frisking him and asking the usual questions.

He talked, with no ill will, of one who had taken advantage of his circumstances and not paid him for work done.  He spoke with pride of having his own food and not having to beg.  He was self-sufficient in his own way.  He had very little more than the clothes on his back and the few things in his back pack which included his Bible.

I had to ask him about his soul and asked if he had a relationship with THE LORD.  He said, "Oh, YES Ma'am!  I read my Bible every night before I go to sleep."  Last night he had slept in a pine thicket just off the road.

Please pray for Bo.  I know he needs prayer.  He is looking for work.  He is staying with his sister and his sister is ill.  THE LORD knows their names and what they need.  HE provided my van to take this man a little closer to home.  HE will provide.  HE provided for me so I would be there in the right place at the right time.  I only had to be obedient.  I had put this excursion off for a week and when I got up this morning I just decided to go.  It was all in THE LORD'S good time.

For once I feel that I kept one of THE LORD'S appointments.

Shalom.  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.