And Then, One Day…

Many years ago I was made redundant from a place where I worked. In truth I was glad to have been paid off for I no longer enjoyed working there anymore. I had an idea that I might be included in the redundancy scheme as there were many of us going, so I sat down and got the details of the severance packages, did my sums, talked with a few close friends and I came to the conclusion that this could actually turn into something good.

After the process had ran its course, and I had sorted out all my financial issues I decided to update my previous work qualifications and try to get back into that line of work. It was, afterall, my first love.

Time came and passed. I did the courses, applied for a few jobs, tried them out, but was never really content in them.

One day, I decided to go and register with a recruitment agency. I normally try to avoid recruitment agencies but this time I decided to give it a go. I made the appointment and got the bus into town. I arrived early so I hung around outside and watched the people go by. There was a guy standing nearby enjoying his cigarette and since I didn’t like the smell of the tobacco smoke I moved a few steps away.

It came near the time for my appointment so I entered the building and went to the lifts. The guy who was enjoying his smoke was there too. We all got in and travelled to our relevant floors and when it came to my turn the “smoker guy” got off also. We nodded to each other and I looked around to get my bearings and try to locate the relevant office.

It was 10:30am. I went in, introduced myself and was asked to wait in reception. After a few moments the person who was to interview me came around the corner. Smoker Guy. We looked at each other and I’m sure our thoughts must have synchronised as we thought “that’s the guy from the lift”.

I settled down for the usually hum-drum interview. “This should take no more than 15 minutes”, I thought. And so we chatted. And we chatted. And we chatted.

One hour later he asked me, “What are your plans for the next couple of hours?” “I’m not sure”, I replied, somewhat taken aback. “I’ll probably go and get a coffee, wander around town for a while then get the bus home”.

“I have an opportunlty that I think just might suit you”, he said. “Want to come with me and have a look?”

Forty five minutes later I was standing in the middle of a very large hospital site. I was chatting to the maintenance people who run this hospital and by 1:30pm I had been offered a job. I started on the following Monday morning.

I had gone out that morning with a half-hearted mindset were all I had to look forward to was a nice cup of coffee. Four hours later I was back home with a job offer and was trying to get all my tools gathered together for Monday morning. I finished off my working career in that job and it was easily the most fulfilling and rewarding job that I have ever worked in.

There have been several occasions like that through my life. Were a simple conversation, or a chance meeting would turn everything in a new direction that I never thought possible.

This memory was recalled to me recently while I was listening to a podcast sermon on 1st Samuel ch9 where we hear the fiirst mention of a man called Saul. He wasn’t old at this time. Rather, he was a young man and very handsome with it….

1st Samuel ch9 (2)And he (Kish, Saul’s father) had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

The story tells us that Saul’s father had lost some of his herd of donkeys. He asked Saul and some others to go and try to find them in the mountains. They couldn’t find them so one of the group suggested that they go to the next village and ask of the local prophet if he could tell where the donkeys were.

This is where the story changes. The prophet was a man called Samuel. And he already knew that Saul was coming to meet with him and had made some preparations for his arrival. By the time we get halfway through chapter 10 Saul has been annointed by Samuel and a divine proclamation made upon him…

1st Samuel ch10 (1)Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over his inheritance? …….(6) The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 

But this is not the first nor only time that God changed someone’s life-direction in an instant.

In 1st Samuel Ch17 we read of David and Goliath. David as a young shepherd at this time. His father sent him to the army encampment with food for his older brothers, as he was normally required to do. But on a particular day everything changed….

1st Samuel Ch17 (22)David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. (23)As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. (24)Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. 

David had gone out to deliver the food to his brothers and by the end of the day he was holding Goliath’s head aloft for all of the peope of Israel to see. (Ch51 v50-51).

In the New Testament we read of another Saul, coincidentally descended from the tribe of Benjamin just as his Old Testament namesake. And he wasn’t a very pleasant man…

Act of The Appostles Ch8 (3) But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

But, one day this was all to change…

Act of The Apostles Ch9 (1)Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest (2)and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (3)As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. (4)He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 

Saul’s life changed in that instant.

Our God moves among us in a mysterious and wonderful way. In an instant, He can move our lives into a whole new direction. One that we have never even thought about before. My own life has taken a different direction several times. And although I couldn’t see it at the time, when I look back I can see that somehow, somewhere, God was in the midst of it all.

And He can move for you too. Just be ready to take up the change and move with Him.

My times are in Thy hands.
My God, I wish them there!
My life, my friends, my soul,
I leave entirely to Your care.

My times are in Thy hands.
Whatever they may be.
Pleasing or painful. Dark or bright.
As You know best for me.

Email - TheseLivelyOracles@hotmail.com
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