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Thump, thump, thump.
What on earth was that sound? I had just come from covering a story at Westside School, so I pulled the news car into a gravel parking lot. It looked like a new church had been built there. I pulled to the edge of the lot and got out.
As I walked around, my heart sank. Sure enough, it was a flat. Per the protocol, I called the station, and they were going to send someone out.
“Where are you?”
I glanced at the church and saw a large sign.
“It says Herman Baptist Church. It’s just before you get to the big curve at the school.”
They knew where it was and told me to sit tight; help was coming.
So, I waited.
Herman. What an odd name for a church, I thought. But it wasn’t the only thing I thought about.
Church.
Man. It had been a while since I had been. I liked church; I had just never really felt like I was a part of one. I attended but never really “belonged.” Plus, the person I was and the life I lived were a far cry from the one that used to be in church.
I saw the car pull in, and we set to work to change that flat.
Fast forward a year or so…
It was Sunday morning, and I was going to church. The guy I was talking to, Shaun Merrell, had invited me to go with him. I checked my shoes with my dress again and heard the knock at the door. He was in a hunter-green long-sleeve polo shirt, starched and ironed, of course, with his pleated khakis and penny loafers. It was far different than I was used to seeing him wear. At the Nature Center, it was a long-sleeved button-up, camo usually, Levi’s, and boots.
I hugged my dad, and we headed out the door.
As we pulled into the parking lot, a memory came flooding back.
“I’ve been here before.”
The lot looked different. It was now paved and packed with cars.
Those thoughts of never belonging came back to my mind as well. But the moment we entered the door, it wasn’t like anything I had ever experienced. It was like coming home to a loving family. I immediately felt like this was right where I was meant to be.
And the Lord was waiting on me. Through the people of that church, the Bible studies, the discipleship, and the fellowship, Jesus became my Lord and not just my Savior.
Looking back, I know that the Lord had appointed me to have a flat that day and pulled into that parking lot. It was a divine appointment.
He was preparing me to meet Him there.
He had given me a longing in my heart for something more than this world could offer. Not just a drink of water that you always thirst for more, but for living water that fills and satisfies your soul.
Just as it was a divine appointment for that to be the place Shaun would take me to church that day.
John 4:3-10
“3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”
Must needs go.
Man, I love that.
This was a divine appointment with a purpose. Sure, Jesus could go around the city. It was Samaria, after all. And the Samaritans were hated by the Jews. Throughout the years, Jews had married outside of their people, and this new mixed race was formed. The Jews considered them less than or beneath them.
But as his disciples went to the market on this day, Jesus had another destination in mind.
He had someone to meet at that well.
Everything is significant in this story. The time that the woman was there – noon. It was the hottest part of the day! Why would anyone go at that time? Well, as we read on, we discover she had her reasons. She was shamed by her lifestyle and her past, and more than likely, the other women wouldn’t associate with her, welcome her, or let her draw water at the well with them.
The fact that she was a Samaritan, not a Jew. And that she was a woman. A woman!
Jesus showed that His salvation was for all people. Jews, gentiles, men and women.
Read more in verses 11-30.
When she learned that He was the Messiah, the long-awaited Christ, and He had chosen to speak to her, look at her response.
“The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.”
She left behind the old and RAN to tell everyone about Jesus.
You’ll do the same when you encounter Christ and recognize Him for who He really is.
I did. In the Fall of 2010, at that little church in Bono, AR.
Jesus has a divine appointment for you, too. If you’ve encountered Him and He changed your life, share it! Tell them about Jesus. And if you haven’t yet, perhaps this message is preparing you to meet Him.
Perhaps this is your divine appointment.
I’d love to share more with you about Jesus and the forgiveness and love that He has waiting for you.
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