Your Divine Appointment
By Phil Derstine
Senior Pastor, The Family Church at Christian Retreat
Bradenton, Florida
You were birthed at God’s appointed time. You are here in this generation for such a time as this. Every experience, circumstance, crisis, or opportunity has either been created by God or allowed by God, for His divine purpose. God is at work weaving His divine design upon our lives in this world, but it’s not entirely predestined. He gives us a free will, to obey or disobey, cooperate or rebel.
When God interrupted Saul’s life on the road to Damascus, God said, “It’s hard for you to kick against the pricks.” God attempts to guide us along His perfect will with gentle “pricks,” of divine guidance, burning bush experiences that need to be spiritually recognized and properly responded to.
When Moses saw a bush burning that was not being consumed, he deliberately turned to investigate it further. Exodus 3:4 tells us, “And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush...” Moses could have missed his divine appointment with the voice of God had he not been hungry enough, discerning enough, or desperate enough to investigate it further. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
What is a Divine Appointment? Simply put, it’s an appointment with God, in His time and on His terms. Imagine that God has an appointment book and He is working on a plan that involves you and me. His plan requires our attention and attentiveness. And that’s the rub... we are busy with other things... distracted by the very world that God has created for us to enjoy. Burdened with the cares of life and dominated by the demands of our five natural senses.
We say that we want to hear from God. We say that we want revival. We talk about it, we pray about it. But are we really looking for it to happen? Will we recognize it when it arrives? Most importantly, will we be willing to make the changes necessary to cooperate with it when it comes?
This summer, on our family road trip to Strawberry Lake, I asked Jannette to re-read Following The Fire, out loud, to me and our boys as we traveled in the car. More than a way to pass the time, I felt it was important for our children to hear of the supernatural visitation of God that forms the roots of our ministry call. Of course I had read the book before and was familiar with all the stories. But this time something stood out to me beyond the unusual happenings. I realized that if Dad and Mom had not cooperated with the prophetic instructions that were given during the seven day visitation, the story would have ended there. They had to recognize it was God at work, and cooperate with the prophetic words that said they would be removed from the Mennonite church and were to move their family to Florida. It was a major step of faith, because they didn’t know anyone in Florida. But God had a divine appointment in mind. They were to meet Henry Brunk. The rest is history.
Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” We go about our daily routines and then the Lord drops something in our path to reveal Himself... a revelation of truth, a healing, a miracle of provision, a ministry opportunity, or other demonstration of His power. These are spiritual cracks in the ceiling of our physical existence that allow heaven’s interruption of our earthly routine. They are God’s steering mechanisms, confirmation signs, or activation buttons. They keep us on track, motivate our faith, and cultivate closer intimacy with God. So God uses Divine Appointments to connect us more closely in vertical relationship with Him. But God also uses Divine Appointments to connect us with others.
The night of September 28, 2004, marked the beginning of our annual Feast of Tabernacles. It’s always an anticipated time of high praise and pageantry. But this year we were on God’s divine appointment calendar. The opening night, I heard myself say, “God wants to interrupt our schedule this year and spend quality time with us.” Little did I know how prophetic those words would be as services began to go late into the night, night after night. God used prophet/teacher Randy Lechner and the youthful Tommy Zito Ministries to fan the fires of revival. We recognized the burning bush and responded with hunger and resolve. The next forty days of daily services resulted in over 3,000 souls saved and an eternal change in the spiritual culture of our church!
Perhaps it’s time for everyone affiliated with Christian Retreat / Gospel Crusade to re-read the testimony book, Following The Fire, and be awakened to the divine plan of God that is still at work, now 50 years later. Let’s position ourselves for revival and not miss the day of our visitation. Politically, it seems God has given us four more years. Spiritually, there is a hunger in the world like never before. Numerically, the laborers are no longer few. This is the time for the church to do the works of the ministry.
Ephesians 5:14 says it best, “Wake up, O sleeper!” Verse 16 exhorts us to be making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” The Greek word for opportunity is kairos, meaning God’s appointed time. We see the word again in Galations 6:9-10, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men...” Interestingly, the words due season in verse 9 and opportunity in verse 10 are both from the Greek word kairos. This means that God’s due season can come at any opportunity that He places before us.
I hear the sound of an abundance of rain! And as Elijah, in the days of old, it’s time for us to hit our knees and pray it in (I Kings 18:41-44). The waters are troubled, it’s time to jump in (John 5:4). If we respond properly to God’s indicators, this will be the generation of the greatest harvest of souls in history. Let’s cry out to God for rain, and then look expectantly for the clouds to appear. Let’s get on God’s calendar for Divine Appointment!