Right after interceding for Darcy Nick leaves his boss’s office and discovers Erin, a file clerk, isn’t at work.
Nick had been aware Erin had been having suicidal thoughts when he first ran into her. Literally. He had nearly knocked her off her feet, and he heard her think, “Oh God, He nearly killed me . . . too bad he missed.” Later, he heard her think, “What if I just jumped through the window? Would they notice?”
His ability to hear her thoughts had given him the insight to know that she is suicidal, but he had done nothing about it. Finally, when he notices Erin is not at work, he decides he must intervene.
He finds her address and rushes across the city and enters her apartment fearing the worst. It turns out that she has not done anything to harm herself – yet.
I love that Jesus intervenes in the lives of the most unlikely people. In John 4:4-42, Jesus intervenes in the life of a woman who is discouraged, an outcast of her community.
As the story unfolds, we see that it begins at high noon, the hottest time of the day. This is not the usual time to be drawing water from the well, but this woman was coming to draw water from the well. Why? She likely would not go in the cool of the day to draw water like all the other women of the town because she was not accepted. It is not such a stretch of our imagination, since it is soon revealed that she has had five husbands, and the man she has now is not her husband. Perhaps the other villagers didn’t have her wearing a scarlet letter, but gossip can label a person just as distinctly. This woman did not fit in, and nobody let her forget it.
Jesus was there because He had a divine appointment with her. She had been penned into His cosmic daybook since before the beginning of time. He had a job opening that only she could fill. This Samaritan woman was just trying to avoid the cruelty of the other women in town, while Jesus was there because He wanted her on his team. So He intervened. He confronted her with the hard truth about her past, and then he offered her living water, eternal life. She accepted.
“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’” John 4:28-29
The world-changing results of her one-of-a-kind ministry are recorded as follows:
“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’” John 4:39
Jesus intervened in the life of one woman, a Samaritan who was considered worthless by her own community and unworthy even by some of Jesus’ own disciples. But Jesus knew she was worth it, and so are you.
This gives me such hope, I hope it gives you encouragement too.
Another famous divine intervention took place on the road to Damascus.
Saul was a Pharisee who had been busy doing everything within his power to bring down Jesus’ followers. In fact, Saul was on his way to condemn Christians for their faith in Jesus.
He was an ambitious leader more than eager to wipe out the followers of this new religion. He was on his way to find – and put to death – any believers he could find in Damascus. Saul is described as;
“…breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.” Acts 9:1
However, Jesus suddenly appeared on that dusty hot road for a serious face-to-face discussion with Saul. He confronted Saul with the truth about the evil he had been doing. The consequence? It was not what you would expect. Jesus didn’t strike Saul dead. He didn’t rain fire down on Him. He didn’t turn him into a pillar of salt. In fact, there was no condemnation at all. (check out Romans 8:1)
Instead, Saul was drafted onto Jesus’ team. It turns out there was an opening on Jesus’ team that only Saul could fill. Jesus explained Saul’s mission:
“This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.” Acts 9:15
Saul went on to become known as Paul, one of the most influential followers of Christ who has ever lived. He is one of most well-known apostles, having written 13 of the 27 books that is now our New Testament.
Jesus intervened in the life of Saul, a murderer who was seeking to kill as many of Christ’s disciples as possible. He was willing to intervene for these very unlikely candidates and He is willing to intervene in your life as well.
In fact, God wants to intervene in your life. No matter what kind of mess we are in, and no matter if we made our own mess, or if someone else made the mess for us. He encourages us to call on Him exactly when we need Him most.
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15
No comments:
Post a Comment