THE PREACHER AND A 9 YEAR OLD BOY

Have you ever wondered why you were born in a certain year, in a particular town, into a specific family? Was it chance brought on by a night of intimacy or was it be divine appointment? Have you ever thought that you may have been born for Such a Time as This?
God has a definite appointment and a definite plan for every person. Most of us will miss the appointment and not fulfill the plan because we follow a path of our own choosing instead of the divinely chosen path that would lead us to our destiny.

Many times we question events that occur, people we meet, or the career paths we follow. Could it be that God has set all these things in motion from the foundation of the earth to bring you to Such a Time as This?

Esther had no way of knowing when she along with all her people was taken into captivity, the impact she would have on a whole nation and empire. She could never have predicted that her story would still be told, written about, and celebrated thousands of years later. If she had not been obedient to the divine appointment in her life, she would have died; just another Jewish captive. Instead, knowing the risk she was taking, that it could possibly even cost her own life, she stepped into her destiny and saved a nation.

AS TOLD BY STEVE WILLOUGHBY, MISSIONARY TO SINGAPORE.
There is a story of a small Chinese boy and a Pentecostal preacher who kept a divine appointment of prayer for 30 years. It seems that the preacher was at a funeral in Texas when God gave him a vision of a little freckled face girl with a long black braid and a smiling Chinese boy standing in a one-room school house in Texas. Riding along with the undertaker on his way to the cemetery, the undertaker pointed out a one-room school house where the deceased had attended school. The minister asked, “Did the deceased have freckles and a long black braid when she was a little girl?” “Why, yes” the undertaker exclaimed, “how did you know?” The minister replied, “I just knew.” At that moment God confirmed to him that if the vision of the little girl was reality, then somewhere across the ocean was a little 9 year old Chinese boy that he needed to pray for. The minister began to pray that God would keep His Hand upon the small boy; that He would raise him up to be a great man of God and preach the gospel to his people. The minister became so obsessed with the vision that 5 years later he bought a ticket to China and walked the streets searching for the face in the sea of 9 year old faces, but to no avail. He continued to pray and ask God to please complete the vision, to let him know where the little boy was and what he had become. Thirty years later, sitting in a restaurant in Louisiana, the preacher told his story to assembled guests. A Pentecostal Chinese immigrant leaned over to one of the dinners and asked, “Could he be talking about Bro. Tan?” He got on the phone to Singapore and asked Bro. Tan’s wife to email him a picture of her husband when he was 9 years old. Including the picture of a smiling 9 year old Bro. Tan in a collage of other 9 year old Chinese boys, the old preacher was asked to see if his Chinese boy could possibly be one of those portrayed on the computer screen. The preacher began to weep and say that’s him, that’s my little Chinese boy, as he pointed to Bro. Tan.

It seems that Bro. Tan was born into a Buddhist Taoist family. As a young man he began to date a Christian young lady. Her parents were very unhappy about the situation and asked the American Missionary to come and talk with the two young people. The young lady was very unreceptive and brushed off everything the missionary had to say. The young man, however, began to weep and ask questions. The following Sunday, he made his way to the missionary’s church and was filled with the Holy Ghost. Since then, Bro. Tan has become the first appointed missionary to China from the Singapore church and has won thousands of people to the Lord. What if a preacher had brushed off an unlikely vision of a 9 year old Chinese boy standing in a one room Texas schoolhouse? What if he had become tired of praying after 1, 5 or 10 years? Because the divine appointment was kept, thousands of people have come to know the Lord in the Power of the Holy Ghost.

We all have a divine appointment. We are not living in a specific town on January 14, 2008 by chance. If you aren’t sure what appointment you are supposed to keep, ask God to show you. Perhaps you felt a tug at your heart, heard the call or had visions of what you could accomplish for God many years ago. You may have been a child or a young person. As time passed and nothing seemed to be happening, other things began to take priority, but you’ve never been able to quiet that gentle reminder of long ago. It isn’t too late. The plan hasn’t been scrapped or the appointment missed. It has just been waiting for you to finally say YES to God.

Don’t be afraid to step into your destiny no matter the cost; the reward will be far greater. Who knows but in Such a Time as This you could change the world, affect your city or win your neighbor down the street.