A Divine Appointment in the Lunch Line

I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe that my steps are ordered, even in the most mundane of days. Like the day I forgot my lunch and went to the café in my office building.

The café was busy, as it always was at lunchtime. An infrequent visitor there (my college budget rarely included the luxury of purchasing prepared food), I was intently perusing the menu hoping to find something filling and cheap. I say intently because in order to choose a selection, I had to cut a path through the jungle of stimuli. I suffer from hearing issues. I hear everything. Shoe scuffles, rattling keys, clinks of silverware on plates, teeth clicking together, the various sniffs, smacks, and snuffles of the patrons.

So, it wasn’t an intentional matter of eavesdropping when my attention was captured by the conversation of the two men in front of me. They were looking for the utensils (which they’d passed up way back at the beginning of the line) and I assumed they too were not café regulars. Leaving my tray in line, I walked back to the front, grabbed two sets of utensils, and returned to my spot. I tapped the man in front of me and offered him the napkin-wrapped bundles.

The man—David, I learned—thanked me graciously and inquired where I worked in the building. I was working as an entry-level marketer for a credit card company, bottom job, bottom floor. He was a vice president of the brokerage firm located on upper floors. We chatted a few moments and then to my surprise, he offered me a job. I was twenty-one years old, with no degree in finance and no experience in an executive office, but I had a friendly face and a willingness to learn. Training he could give; pleasant disposition I could bring. It was a win for us both.

During my time working for David I was able to meet and work with some amazing people and gain valuable experience that I have used in the many years since. I was exposed to the principles of business ethics, professional behavior, financial confidentiality, office politics, gate keeping, and so much more. The in-office work expanded my professional horizons, and the various dinners and award banquets seated with people twice my age, quadruple my training and experience and light years beyond my social/economic/education circles, broadened my experience in social settings. It is the kind of experience I could never have gotten on my own. Surely, my steps to the café that day were ordered.

In a matter of moments, I went from not being able to even access the elevators to the top floors of my office building to having access to everything and everyone in the company. Working for David opened doors I never could have imagined possible. And it all began with an act of kindness in a café line.

Or did it?

No, it actually began with the hand of God scheduling the vice president of Dean Witter and a not-on-his-radar low-level employee to a divine appointment.

Psalm 37:23 tells us that God orders the steps of the good, and I’ve been the blessed recipient of it many times.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. (Psalm 37:23, NLT)

Making It Personal:

Think back. Do you recall an incident that you would call a divine appointment?

What was it?

How has it changed your life?