THE RIGHT PLACE, AT THE RIGHT TIME

TODAYS SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-4 (From Eugene H. Peterson's The Message)

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.

THE RIGHT PLACE, AT THE RIGHT TIME

"I was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time." How often have you said that?

We use that comment when a deer comes out of the woods and runs into our car. We use that phrase when the waiter trips and spills someone else's dinner in our lap. We use that phrase - Well we use that phrase to make sense of random accidents.

"I was just in the right place, at the right time." How often have you said that?

Just this morning, November 19, 2009, two friends told about being in the right place, at the right time. Joe and Penny.

Penny is an artist and had attended an art workshop. "The people were so friendly and helpful. They gave each other tips on cleaning brushes. And how to ship paintings." she said. Then she told us about being "in the right place, at the right time."

A fellow artist has cancer and Penny just learned that his wife was also diagnosed with cancer. Penny was very troubled and needed to share her concern. She needed to tell someone. So Penny spoke to the next person that walked by. To someone she had only met a few days earlier. To someone she did not really know. To this lady, she said, "I have a friend just diagnosed with cancer and I am so worried."

How was Penny in the right place, at the right time? The one lady Penny chose to talk to needed to talk to someone, but did not know how to start the conversation. She listened to Penny and then said, "I have cancer and have just finished treatments." She then talked about further treatments and surgery.

The right place, at the right time. Two women who each needed someone to listen to them. Someone who would understand. What a gift Penny gave to someone who needed to say, "I have cancer. Do I look alright?"

What Penny did not know was that her husband was touring a museum that day. Then Joe told us about being "in the right place, at the right time."

Joe said he had a great history lesson from an elderly gentleman who had always lived in this town. Then he toured the museum and there saw a picture of someone he knew. Joe is a Marine (Once a Marine, always a Marine) who served in Viet Nam. The Marine in the picture had served with Joe. He found there was still family in town and he went to see them.

The right place, at the right time. Because Joe saw a picture, in a museum he did not know existed, in a town he had never been to before, he was able to talk to a family about a young soldier who did not survive the war. What a gift Joe gave that family.

Being in the right place, at the right time -- Just luck? No, the scriptures tell us, "he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us."

And God? God is always in the right place, at the right time.

LET US PRAY

Dear Loving and Compassionate God, Please put me in the right place, at the right time. Place me where I can hear another's concerns. Where I can give comfort. Place me where I can encourage. Where I can offer a memory of a loved one. Where I can wipe away a tear. Where, even for just an instant, I can extend your love to another. And, Lord, when I need comfort. Or someone to listen to my concerns. When I need someone to wipe a tear away, please put one of your children in the right place, at the right time for me. Amen