Watching for the next appointment...

Do you ever get "stuck" on a word... one that just keeps popping up in your speech & in your thoughts? I don't mean the current popular "catch phrase" that you hear everywhere you go... I'm thinking more personal in nature. For me, this usually has a connection to a spiritual concept that is being built upon or worked out from within... a theme that just keeps showing up for a season of time. I attribute this to God's Holy Spirit at work - growing me, teaching me.

Right now, my word is "appointment". Usually, when I use the word 'appointment', it isn't within the context of something exciting... doctor appointment, car service appointment, dentist appointment, etc, etc. I suppose some of you out there may actually have *fun* appointments, but in my world - appointments are generally just something to check off the list, not something to look forward to.

But, lately the idea of an 'appointment' has taken on a really different feeling for me. I'm not sure where this use of the word first crept into my thought process, but I suspect it is from a book or bible study in my past. So, just for the record, I am not trying to pass this concept off as my own. The idea itself isn't new to me - just it's application in my own life.

You see, I've recently had the incredible privilege of having some God-scheduled "appointments" with people. Encounters where I get to see God working through me in a particular moment. I'm not the power at work, I am very simply the means of delivery. When electricity travels from it's source to turn on the light, the wiring doesn't really do anything... it's just there, right? Well, that's me: I'm not the power at work, I'm just there.

Now, don't get me wrong here... I haven't rescued anyone from a burning building or anything nearly so dramatic. What I have witnessed, though, is God at work through some normal, everyday kind of events: a conversation, an off-hand invitation to church, an email. In my own power, these are just "blips on the screen" in everyday life. But, in God's power?? It's an amazing transformation. He has taken my simple (most of the time, down-right clumsy!) words & actually used them to have meaning for someone else. It might be tempting to think of these as 'small' events - not worthy of much attention. But, our God is purposeful - His every act has value. To be included in even the 'smallest' way? What a tremendous blessing!

I want to be careful to say again that these are not MY appointments... the way I see it, my job is to just keep my eyes on Him. If I start trying to do it in my own power - like Peter, I'll just start sinking! So, I keep reminding myself that the "who, what, when, where" - those are all His details to handle. Honestly, that stuff is way too overwhelming for me anyway... I'm very thankful it's not my job to coordinate all of that. So, my prayer is very basic: that I will choose to make myself available by staying in prayer, that I will have eyes to see where He is leading me... and that I will choose to follow, even when it's not convenient or easy.

In the meantime, I will be waiting, watching & hoping for that next appointment...