A Dance of Divine Appointments

I have a friend, I'll call him B, who has a prophetic nature. It is a gift that he has and uses with very little adornment. It has been a relaible gift, as I have observed, and I trust him. I like to tell of the time when I was teaching through Ephesians and came across the phrase "manifold wisdom of God." I had read this phrase dozens of times, but this time I realized I had no idea what the word "manifold" meant. So I looked it up. It means "many faced." So the "manifold wisdom of God" is something that can be looked at from several directions to yield new insight into His nature. I decided to have fun with this and planned to ask the class the next day what the word "manifold" meant. B walked in sat down, set a book in front of him and said, "I brought the dictionary in for you, Don." He had no idea what the connection was, just that the Holy Spirit had directed him to bring in a dictionary that day. My friend was called to other places, so I only hear from him occasionally now. ------------ In the beginning of July, my pastor informed me that he would be on vacation and would I please teach on July 17th and 24th. I readily agreed. On July 6th B sent me an e-mail that read in total, "I believe a good book for you teach on these days would be 1 John. Just felt like sharing...Have a great day." To prepare a study to cover any of 1 John in just 2 lessons was a daunting task. I was familiar with the book. I knew that most quotes were from its comfortable sections, but I would need to give a flavor of the letter as John intended. It had some truly, almost contradictory sections, and its six chapters jump around--1 John does not have the thematic flows of Romans and Hebrews. I had 11 days--except that I had just begun my vacation at Zion National park, which gave me 7 to find the heart of the book and organize a teaching. But as I read and re-read 1 John, I felt an anointing come on me. It showed me 1 John was a fistful of small diamonds. It showed me that John created intentional traps to make the reader slow down and ponder what he was saying. Under the anointing, the themes in 1 John emerged and structural handles around which I could organize them revealed themselves. I presented the first sermon yesterday and I was pleased with the material and the response of the congregation. But this post is not about the lessons. ---------------- This post is about a dance of divine appointments that began with B's e-mail suggesting out of the blue and perfectly timed that I teach 1 John. In the first place, I ended up inviting B to attend. This only made sense. I had not seen him for awhile, and I felt that he should be part of the outworkings of the word he had. In the second place, I gave credit to B in the lesson for being the inspiration. I did not point him out. He is a humble man and prefers to not have attention drawn to him. It was embarrassing enough to be named. We have 2 services. After the first, a woman came up to me and asked if my B was the same as a B that she knew. They were the same. She then told me of a web site wherein B offered interpretations of high-schooler's dreams. B had never told me that this activity was going on. I knew that he had some interest and success in this area, but this exchange made this knowledge fresh. At the end of the second service, B and I were catching up with each other. A young man, J, came up and asked me, "I have had a dream that I need some help with." J had never discussed nor mentioned dreams to me before that point. I was fresh with a reminder that B has a gift in this area. B was there because I was teaching 1 John because B had suggested it out of the blue. I connected B and J together and left them alone. I have not inquired of details, but I do know that there were some important issues of strongholds and battle-grounds discussed. I would be comfortable in saying that my teaching 1 John and the means by which I chose the topic were for the sole purpose of linking B and J together for the benefit of J. On the other hand, my reward has been insight into 1 John that I never knew was there--and many were blessed and challenged by the teaching. But I marvel at the pieces and how they linked one to another to another to accomplish what God wanted in the lives of His children. At the end of Perelandra, C.S. Lewis narrates a time of praise between Ransom, the green lady, and the green man. It swirled around on the theme of the dance. This is what played out here. E-Mails, remembrances, dreams, people. All of it shows the individual personal concern that the Father has for his children. Test Everything. Cling to what is good.