Right Place – Right Time…

Everyone loves those moments… the moments when you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. As Christians, we hold there is something greater behind these events besides luck or coincidence. We’re more comfortable with phrases such as ‘divine appointment’, ‘an open door’ or a window of opportunity’.

Psalms 37:23 from the New Living Translation it reads, “The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Isn’t that a wonderful thought? God is directing our steps…and that He delights in every detail of our lives?

Another favorite passage of mine regarding this divine coincidence is found in the tiny book of Ruth. Remember, Naomi has returned home to Bethlehem from Moab. She is accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth. Things are tight. Not much food in the cupboard, so Ruth leaves one morning to try her hand at the custom of gleaning, which means going behind the harvesters and picking up what’s left behind. Being a foreigner, she was probably unaware of all the abuse and difficulty she was getting herself into. After all what’s a Moabite woman doing gleaning in Bethlehem’s harvest fields? Suffice to say, she could have faced a rather rude if not injurious morning… that is had the Lord not been concerned about every detail of her life!

I love the language of the King James Version, (Ruth 2:3) “…and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz…” You have to love this! It’s early morning in Bethlehem; Ruth leaves Naomi behind and wanders down main street, through the town square and out where the fields are. She looks to this field of wheat and workers and then looks to that field of wheat and workers… and it just so happened that she landed upon the field of the kinsman redeemer who would abundantly satisfy her need for food. And eventually provide her a nice home, marriage, title to all the fields and a son named Obed, who would become the father of Jesse, who would become the father of David, King of Israel. Would you call that a fortunate turn of events?

When we arrived in Scotland, the town of Hamilton had been selected for us as the place for our church plant. We knew little to nothing of the town, the people, their needs or what lay in store for us. I guess you could say, “our hap was to light on town of Hamilton.”

I’ve taken the expense to enclose in this newsletter a brochure from our main office entitled – Europe. On the cover is a skinny kid wearing a Glasgow Rangers top… his name is Gary Matthews. He attends Harvest Christian Fellowship in Hamilton, Scotland. Let me tell you his story!

John and Karen, Gary’s parents had been exposed to a church which was quite abusive. The sectarian views had left them confused and disillusioned. They had all but stopped going to church. One night Karen was praying, “Lord, just like the man from Macedonia prayed, Lord, would you send someone here to help us… send someone to Hamilton!”

Little did Karen know that God was preparing a family in Texas to relocate to Scotland?

Little did Karen know that God was doing a new thing, breaking through barriers just to answer her prayer? Little did Karen know that God was guiding the Scottish leadership to the little town of Hamilton to be the first church plant in this new partnership?

The Matthews family became one of the first members of Harvest Christian Fellowship. Today, they are involved in a variety of ministries of the church one of which is the prayer ministry of our church… (Wonder why?)

In a library located in Texas, there is a sign that has been seen by many college students. It reads, “It costs too much to be out of the will of God.” Which is a truth negatively stated. Being the optimist, let’s rephrase it, “It pays rich dividends to be found in the will of God.” Nothing – nothing – nothing surpasses knowing and doing the will of God. Ruth was in the will of God, doing the will of God when Boaz crossed her path. Right place – right time!