Divine Appointment

As Becky fumbled to shut off the annoying alarm clock that had disturbed what little sleep she got last night, the full force of grief hit her again. What would she do now? Her husband had been severly beaten in a robery attempt just a few days before and now lay in critical condition in the hospital.

It seemed as if the whole world was crashing down around her. At least this recent crisis took her mind off some of the worries about her mother who had been admitted to a nursing home a year earlier.

Shaking off the intense urge to stay in bed Becky readied herself for her 8 am class at Columbia State and headed out. She knew it would be difficult to stay focused on her studies, but she pressed on.

As she opened the front door of the school she was met by a well dressed man with a wide smile across his face. “Just what I need” she thought, someone chipper to deal with. Instead of the expected “special offer” of the week, this man held out a small green New Testament Bible and asked her if she would like to have it. “Sure” she said and thanked him as he wished her a good day.

Between classes she felt the urge to open the little Bible. As she scanned a few pages she found this passage:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

As she thought about this verse tears came to her eyes because she knew that God was going to work out all the difficulties in her life, if she would only lean on Him.

After school she shared with her mother how her day was turned around by the gift she received. “Who was the man who gave you the Bible?” her mom asked. “You know, I didn’t even ask him.” She pulled the Bible out of her bag and looked at it closer. Inside the front cover was the explanation. He was a Gideon. “I haven’t thought about the Gideons since they came to my school in the fifth grade. I probably still have that red testament that they gave me somewhere”.

While she was still at the nursing home another Christian businessman paid her mother a visit. Anthony was her insurance agent, but had also become her friend during the time of her stay. Becky shared her experience with Anthony. “That is so awesome! I just talked to one of my good friends who is a Gideon this morning. He told me he was about to go to a scripture distribution. It’s possible he was the one who gave you the Testament.” A quick call to the Gideon friend confirmed that he was indeed at Becky’s school earlier that morning, but there was no way to know if he was the one who actually gave her the Bible.

Sometimes it seems that God has forgotten about us and that he is no longer in the prayer answering business. The Gideons place scriptures without knowing if they will get to personally reap the harvest of the seed that they plant. In this case feedback came within the hour!

The names are fictional but this is a true story. I was the Gideon on the scripture distribution. In addition to this community college, the Gideons distribute scriptures in 181 countries around the world in 83 languages. To learn more about the ministry of the Gideon’s International click here. We covet your prayers, and If you feel led to contribute to the Gideons monitarily contact me by leaving a comment about this post.

God Bless