A Divine Appointment

I bet you’ve had one–even if you didn’t recognize it at the time. But you were in the right place…at the right time…to make a significant impact on someone’s life. It happened to Craig and me, of all places, on a shuttle to the airport.

The driver, a middle-aged African-American male, immediately struck up a friendly conversation with us the moment we began loading our suitcases onto the bus. Craig and I were teasing each other, and the driver made some sort of comment about marriage, communication. So Craig told him we were celebrating 40 years this coming June, how much we still enjoyed being together–including the teasing part of our relationship. He laughed with us and then stepped off the bus, watching for others who would need a lift.

Which leads to the next part of this unfolding amazing story: no one else got on. I don’t think Craig and I have ever been the only ones on a shuttle from the rental car return to the airport. Except this one time. Little did we know how important that would be.

Because as soon as we pulled out of the lot, the driver looked at us in his overhead mirror, remarking, “So, you’ve been married that long, huh? I guess you know a little about marriage?”

“Oh, yes,” I said, chuckling, attempting to keep my tone light and non-threatening. “Craig and I used to present marriage seminars too.”

His eyes lit up. “You did? Well, since there’s no one else on this bus, I guess I’m supposed to ask you this question.” He shook his head in obvious surprise and bewilderment at the situation. “I don’t think my wife knows how much I love her. How much I appreciate her and all she is to me. Before I left her this morning, while she was still sleeping, I just stared at her a few moments. Thinking how much I love her. Do you think I should tell her that?”

Craig and I gave each other a quick look, signaling, Is this really happening? Has God really just given us this blessed opportunity?

I told him Craig had been a pastor for over 20 years, and his mouth literally fell open. Clearly, he was a believer. And then Craig and I took turns answering his questions.

“Oh, yes. Your wife will love hearing you say those things to her!”

“You don’t think she’ll think less of me for saying something like that?”

“Absolutely not. The very opposite will happen: she’ll actually think more of you, see you as even more of a man if you can express your feelings to her. It’s men of depth and character–men who are secure in themselves–who can be intimate with their wives in that way.”

We affirmed him: I gave him my perspective as the wife of a man who tells me those cherished messages, and what that means to me, how it blesses me emotionally and spiritually.  Craig challenged him to be pro-active and bold, affirming him as a man if he has the courage to share his heart with his wife.

As we came to the stop where Craig and I needed to get off the bus, the driver literally sprang from his seat and sprinted to us…exclaiming how this was meant to happen. How he couldn’t believe we were the only ones on his bus for this trip. That he was wondering and worrying over those questions this very morning, and he was convinced God had sent us to him. Tears filled his eyes as he marveled how quickly and specifically God had answered his prayers, and in this way. Craig asked if he could pray for him, and then the 3 of us huddled together, holding hands in a holy moment, as Craig asked God to bless our new friend and his wife and to strengthen their marriage.

Embarrassed now by his obvious display of emotions, the driver wiped at the tears on his cheeks. So what did I do? I couldn’t help myself: I was so touched that I reached out and hugged him. A total stranger. A man I’d never met before, and likely won’t ever see again. (Though there’s very much a part of me that so hopes we will–if not in this world, then certainly in heaven!) But can I just tell you how absolutely right that felt? The most natural thing to do after our sweet conversation and intimate fellowship?

Now he was grinning from ear to ear in spite of those tears, so energized. Eager to get home to his wife, and oh…how I’ve imagined the precious time the two of them shared!

Honestly, as Craig and I walked into the airport, we looked at each other and shook our heads. A quote from Cutting for Stone (by Abraham Verghese, p. 648) goes like this: “If ‘ecstasy’ meant the sudden intrusion of the sacred into the ordinary, then it had just happened to me.” That’s it–that’s exactly what we felt. God himself had directly “intruded” into our ordinary trip on a bus. And left us in awe.

Did Craig and I earn that appointment somehow? No. Did we deserve it for being in full-time ministry? No. Is there something inherently special in us that God would use us in this way? No–at least, not any more than there’s something equally special in you. It’s all about the privilege of being used by him, to further his Kingdom. In churches, on the mission field, in your neighborhood and schools, at your places of work, over your kitchen table at dinner, whispered to a child at night as he snuggles under the covers.  Or on a shuttle bus from the rental lot to the airport.

Be on the alert for a Divine Appointment. There’s no advance warning, just a last-minute adjustment to your schedule.

But it will leave you in awe.