Right Place Right Time (5 page)

I want to show you how God can connect you with the right person through right happenings with a story from the Old Testament. In Genesis 24, Abraham’s son Isaac had reached the right age to marry, so he told his servant to go and find a wife for Isaac. The servant was an unnamed servant, a very faithful man and the oldest servant in Abraham’s house. Abraham instructed him to
“go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac”.
(Genesis 24:4)

So the servant went away and in time, he came to a well outside the city of Nahor. He wanted to provide water for his camels to drink. But he also knew that a well was a good place to find eligible young women because all the young maidens of the town would come to the well to draw water in the evening. But which of these girls would be the right one? Which of these girls would be the one whom God had set apart for Isaac?

Abraham’s servant probably asked himself these questions. So he prayed,
“O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.”
(Genesis 24:12) The phrase
“give me success”
is actually one word
qarah
in the Hebrew. And
qarah
means “right happening”. In other words, the servant prayed, “God, give me
right happening
today!” And it is here that the word
qarah
appears for the first time in the Bible. The word is also used in Ecclesiastes 9:11:
“But time and chance happen [qarah] to them all.”

The servant’s prayer continues in Genesis 24:13–14:

¹³
Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
¹⁴
Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’ — let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

By asking God for a woman who would give him a drink as well as give his camels a drink, the servant was asking God for a woman who would go the extra mile.

Genesis 24:15–16 continues:

¹⁵
And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.
¹⁶
Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up
.

Some people think that if they prayed the way the servant prayed, God may not give them what they want. But this passage proves otherwise because Rebekah was
“very beautiful”!
Yet, these people would rather search for a wife themselves. They are fearful that if they just prayed, “God, give me success!” God will find them a wife who is old and pickled! If this really happened to a young man, I can imagine all his friends urging him on and saying, “Go ahead and marry her! Sacrifice yourself for us all!”

Some people have this idea that God does not give us what we want. But here is a man of God, the servant of Abraham, praying this prayer, “God, give me success!” That is all he asked. He didn’t specify any details like, “She must be beautiful. She must be tanned and she must be tall!” No, he just said, “God, give me success!” “God, give me
qarah
!” “God, give me right happening!” And God gave him more than what he asked for. He gave him Rebekah, a young woman who
“was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her”.

The servant was in the right place at the right time. God led him there and connected him with the right wife for Isaac, and both sides of the family were blessed. Later on, the Bible tells us that Isaac loved Rebekah. (Genesis 24:67) Of course, God knew beforehand that they would be good for each other!

God Knows Best Who’s Good For You

Now, my friend, let me tell you that everyone is beautiful to someone. I learned that when I was youth president in my previous church. One day, a new girl attended our youth fellowship and one of my friends looked at her and said, “My goodness, she’s really cute!” But when I looked at her, I felt like praying for my friend’s eyesight! Then, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Son, everyone is beautiful to someone.” That day, I was rebuked.

God knows what you like and God knows what you will be like.

God knows who is beautiful in your eyes. So trust God when you are looking for your future husband or wife. God’s heart is kinder than you can ever imagine. God loves you more than you will ever know. He is more interested in your success than you are. God knows you better than you know yourself. He formed you when you were in your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13–14) God knows what you like and, best of all, He knows what you will be like five years from now! So when God introduces you to your future husband or wife, don’t judge him or her by what others say, just trust God’s goodness.

Have you ever noticed that every time God provided a wife for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and other men of God, the Bible says that the women were beautiful? Their beauty is recorded in the Bible. And every time these men of God first laid eyes on their brides, they immediately fell in love with them. These women were beautiful to the men whom God had appointed to them.

Walking In Grace Brings Right Happenings

Another example of right happenings in the Bible is found in the story of Ruth. Interestingly, although Ruth was not a Jewess, she ended up in the genealogy of Jesus! (Matthew 1:5) Ruth was a Moabitess, so how did she end up in Jesus’ family tree? She married a man called Boaz.

Ruth’s story is a beautiful story of God’s grace in spite of the law. In this story, you will find that Ruth’s husband had died, so she renounced her gods and followed Naomi, her Jewish mother-in-law, back to the land of Israel.

Now, they were both very poor when they went to Israel. So Ruth felt that the least she could do was to make some money working as a gleaner in the fields. Let me explain what a gleaner does. A gleaner would follow a reaper through a field. The reaper had a better job than the gleaner. You see, the reaper would cut the harvest of wheat and barley, while the gleaner would follow the reaper, picking up or plucking whatever the reaper had missed or left behind.

Ruth 2:1 tells us that there was a man in Bethlehem whose name was Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s husband and from the clan of Elimelech. Boaz was also
“a man of great wealth”
and a bachelor.

Ruth 2:2 continues:

²
So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favour.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

Notice that Ruth was very confident in God. She told Naomi that she would go to the field and find grace, which means undeserved favour. She didn’t even know which field she would end up in. Naomi replied,
“Go, my daughter.”
So when Ruth was out in the fields gleaning, she came to a part of the field belonging to Boaz the wealthy bachelor. In those days, the fields were huge and owned by different people.

I want to quote from the old King James Bible to highlight a few words and their meanings. Ruth 2:3 says,
“And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her
hap
was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.”
What is “hap”? “Hap” comes from the word “happening”. And the Hebrew word for “hap” here is
qarah
, which we have learnt means “right happening”. So it means that Ruth happened to be in the right place at the right time!

The world is only happy if happenings happen to happen the way they want them to happen! But did you notice that the word “happy” comes from the word “hap”, which means right happening? So Ruth
happened
to be in the field belonging to Boaz. And it so
happened
that Boaz came along at the right time and fell in love with Ruth. The rest is history!

Now, some of you may say to me, “Hey, Pastor Prince, I’m more concerned about my financial situation.” Well, my friend, Ruth became financially secure for the rest of her life! That poor, widowed Moabite girl? Yes, she married one of the wealthiest men in Bethlehem!

A Holy Ghost Connection

In my previous church where I was youth president, the church didn’t believe in the Charismatic move and in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Being the youth president, I was in a bit of trouble because the young people in my care were being baptised in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Now, in my position, I received lots of invitations to attend Christian fellowship meetings in a number of schools.

I was drawn to one particular school. I didn’t know why, but I just felt a desire to accept an invitation to that school. So I visited the school’s Christian fellowship on a few occasions. I ended up meeting a good-looking young man there who played the guitar during the meetings. His name was Joshua and he was a secondary school student. Today, he is the associate pastor of my church. A life-long relationship was established with Pastor Joshua as a result of my being in the right place at the right time. God led me there simply by putting a desire in my heart to go to that school. I call that a Holy Ghost connection!

God’s eyes run to and fro throughout the earth, looking for opportunities to bless His people.

God can connect you with people. Over the last few years, I have heard so many people tell me, “Pastor Prince, last week, I bumped into an old classmate.” I have lost count of the number of people who have told me that story. It has been happening everywhere. And they would also say to me, “I found out that he was facing a financial crisis. I invited him to church and now, he and his whole family are saved.”

Let me ask you this: Do you really think that they just happened to bump into their old classmates? And of all the moments, when their classmates were in financial crises! No, my friend, these were divine appointments, not coincidences. God placed those Christians there in the right place at the right time to help them.

God can place you in the right place at the right time. His eyes run to and fro throughout the earth, looking for opportunities to bless His people, looking for opportunities to set up divine appointments. (2 Chronicles 16:9) He knows what you need. He knows the gifts and the talents that He has planted in you. He knows which job will satisfy you.

God can place you in the right place at the right time if you would only humble yourself and tell Him, “I need you, God! I need you to be involved in my life!” Now, if you want to run your own show, He may let you be the star. But the only person watching that show will be you. On the other hand, if you let God orchestrate your life, it will be a beautiful life because He always puts you in the right place at the right time!

Start Expecting God Appointments

Being in the right place at the right time is something that we can no longer take lightly. With the increase in terrorist activities as well as the apparent rise in natural disasters, it behoves us to trust Him to place us in the right place at the right time.

What the devil wants to do is make us fearful. He knows that he cannot attack our bodies and circumstances unless we are full of worries and cares. But we don’t have to be fearful. We can have the peace of God because we know the God of all peace. And He has given us His Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. He leads us simply by giving us His desires, making it so easy for us to follow Him. And as His sheep, we will hear His voice.

Also, Jesus, the Aleph and the Tav, has guaranteed us that disaster, disease and debt will not have the last say in our lives. Instead, He has the first as well as the final word because He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last!

My friend, expect to escape tragedies and disasters. Expect to close that million-dollar deal. Expect to meet your life partner. Expect to bump into a friend and lead him to the Lord. All because you can expect God to place you in the right place at the right time!

Salvation Prayer

If you would like to receive all that Jesus has done for you and make Him your Lord and Saviour, please pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me and dying for me on the cross. Your precious blood washes me clean of every sin. You are my Lord and my Savior, now and forever. I believe that You rose from the dead and that You are alive today. Because of Your finished work, I am now a beloved child of God and heaven is my home. Thank You for giving me eternal life, and filling my heart with Your peace and joy. Amen
.

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Other Materials By Joseph Prince

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