I listened intently as she spoke about her past. So much pain, layer upon layer of it. I kept thinking about how incredible God is and how he sees each one of us, exactly where we are at any given moment. With this thought in mind I dialed into the conversation,
“Lord, what do you want me to say to her? She just ran into my car, we are both stuck on the side of the road. This is an opportunity to share who You are.”
I considered different ways to approach delivering the Good News. The longer I considered it, the more nervous I became. “She is going to think I am nuts,” I thought to myself. She had been through so much and as I listened, there was so much that I could relate to and remember from personal experience. I remember everything from my former life, I am just no longer a slave to it. I was set free by the Blood of Jesus and she needed to be set free too. That had to be more important than her “possibly” thinking I was crazy.
I looked at her and asked her if she knew that Jesus loved her.
“Do you know that Jesus loves you right where you are? Right here in the mess, but he loves you too much to leave you here. He wants you to give all this pain to Him. If you do, he will turn it into something beautiful. If you will hand over the ashes of brokenness, he will give you beauty. Tomorrow doesn’t have to look like today. You have a choice to make. Choose Jesus, He already chose you.”
I handed her an invite card to our church. I told her that I wasn’t just inviting her to church but more importantly, into a relationship with her Lord and Savior. Then I exhaled………
At this point the officer walked up with our paperwork from the accident. We stepped away and he went over everything with me, then he did the same with her. Before I got into my car, I walked back over and hugged her, this woman that had become my Divine Appointment. What a blessing this encounter had been, but as I pulled away from the side of the road, I knew that I should have prayed with her before I left. I prayed this prayer instead,
“Lord, forgive me for not praying with her before I got back into my car. That was a missed opportunity. If you give me another chance, I will do it right.”
He did give me that chance and it happened soon after! God hears our prayers and He loves to answer them. Keep an eye out for your next Divine Appointment!
