The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Before moving on in Exodus I want to share another thought on ‘divine appointments’.

Recently, Jilly and I visited Morecambe, and we walked past ‘353 Marine Rd’ where I lived, in my early twenties, in a cramped (and slightly damp!) bed-sit, for almost three years. I was there between 1980 and 1983 as the first pastor of a church plant in near-by Lancaster. While I was there I met two men who became close and dear friends. I have no doubt that God brought them into my life. They gave me so much practical help and support. At the same time I know God made me a blessing to them. These were divine appointments, and they were mutually beneficial.

I’ll tell you about one of the men. His name was John. Prior to the church holding its first Sunday services, an evangelist, George Canty, held a month of meetings in ‘Ryelands House’, the former home of Lord Ashton who was an MP and a great public benefactor. One night I noticed a rather rugged and serious- looking man who came to the meeting along with his wife. Just a few weeks later I ‘happened’ to pass him in the street. He was stood by a shop door-way, dressed in his ‘Rediffusion’ overalls. (He installed and fixed telly’s for a living). There was recognition between us, and shortly afterwards he turned up at church. I arranged to visit him, and so began a very rich friendship, with numerous coffees and conversations. I loaned him a book by John Stott on Romans chapters 5-8, entitled ‘Men made new’, and I think he read and re-read it. It lit a fire inside him. As his story tumbled out, I discovered that as a young man, living in the highlands of Scotland, John had been a Christian. In fact, he had been a preacher, and God had so blessed and used him that there had been a kind of revival. But then something went wrong (I can’t remember the details now) and for years and years he had been a ‘backslider’. He had come to the mission meetings with his wife ‘kicking and screaming’, as he put it. He only came because she had seen the meetings advertised in the local press, and at the time she was feeling a need, an emptiness in her soul. But John came whole-heartedly back to Christ. He was a faithful member of the church, and eventually one of its first deacons. He has been dead many years now, but I treasure the memory of this dear friend.

As God took Philip to the desert to serve the Ethiopian (Acts 8), I believe I was sent to Lancaster to meet  John. He was not the only reason, I’m sure. But if it were just for him, a thousand times and more it was so worth it!

PRAYER: Thank you Lord that you bring people together. May I always be ready and available to do your bidding