By Tope Banso
DIVINE ENCOUNTER IS REAL BUT YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PREDICT WHEN
“One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he went deep into the wilderness near Sinai, the mountain of God. Suddenly, the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a blazing fire in a bush. Moses was amazed because the bush was engulfed in flames, but it didn’t burn up” (Exodus 3:1-2 New Living Translation).
You can pray, fast, sow seeds, and do other good works, but you may not be able to predict the day God will encounter you, reward you and turn your life around.
The day God encountered Cornelius was just like any other day he had prayed and fasted in the past. He had no idea what was waiting for him that day. He just went to keep his usual appointment with God in fasting and prayer one afternoon about three o’clock.
He had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. He called his name and announced to him, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have not gone unnoticed by God! Now send some men down to Joppa to find a man named Simon Peter. He is staying with Simon, a leatherworker who lives near the shore. Ask him to come and visit you” (Acts 10:4-6 New Living Translation). That was all the angel said, and disappeared.
Cornelius immediately acted on what the angel said and the outcome of his obedience was Peter’s visit to Cornelius house and the salvation of Cornelius, his relatives and close friends. The Gentiles also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the first time. Suppose Cornelius had failed to keep his prayer appointment that day due to one reason or the other. He would have missed that divine encounter.
Also, Zechariah didn’t know the LORD would encounter him that day he was serving God in the temple and an end came to his years of childlessness. Luke 1:6-7 says, “Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and now they were both very old” (New Living Translation).
But Verse 8 says, “One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week” (New Living Translation). As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary and burn incense in the Lord’s presence, but he had no premonition of an angelic encounter. He was burning the incense and a great crowd stood outside praying.
Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah inside the temple saying, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! For God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John” (verse 13 New Living Translation). That was how Zechariah got his turnaround. Eventually, the wife became pregnant and gave birth to John, according to the word of the angel.
The day Moses had his divine encounter with the LORD in the burning bush was just like any other day. He wasn’t expecting any supernatural event as he was tending his father-in-law’s sheep.
Exodus 3:1-2 says, “One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he went deep into the wilderness near Sinai, the mountain of God. Suddenly, the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a blazing fire in a bush. Moses was amazed because the bush was engulfed in flames, but it didn’t burn up” (New Living Translation).
If you asked Moses what he was doing that day, he would have told you he was tending Jethro’s sheep, which he had been doing for about forty years. He didn’t do anything unusual. He followed the normal route and routine. But that day, he didn’t know that though he was leading the sheep, God was leading him.
That encounter changed his life forever. The LORD spoke to him out of the burning bush and Moses stepped into the pursuit of his destiny – the deliverance of the Israelites from 430 years of captivity in Egypt.
When David woke up that day to take care of his father’s sheep, it was just like any other day. But at a particular hour, an unexpected message came from his father to come quickly home. It was unlikely the messenger told him anything more than that.
Most probably the only strange face he saw in his father’s house when he arrived was Prophet Samuel. God had rejected all his brothers as king. He must have been surprised when Samuel brought out his horn of oil and anointed him king (1 Samuel 16:1-13).
The same thing happened the day he became a national figure in Israel and the women released a single album for him, singing as they danced, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7 New King James Version).
It was just a normal message he went to deliver to his three brothers in the army of Israel. He didn’t plan to kill anybody! But he ended up killing the Philistines’ champion, Goliath, and he became a celebrity (1 Samuel 17:17-51).
You may not know the time God has fixed for your own divine encounter. Therefore, remain faithful, walking with God and doing what He has committed into your hands. Be faithful in small matters. Be faithful with worldly wealth. Be faithful with other people’s money (Luke 16:10-12). Be faithful in everything.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem and said, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42 New King James Version). God visited the Jews and offered them salvation through Jesus Christ, but sadly, their leaders rejected God’s offer.
I pray that you won’t miss your day of divine visitation in Jesus’ name. Your divine encounter, won’t bypass you. Your eyes shall not be blind to what is meant for your promotion, deliverance, breakthrough, enlargement, and victory.
Keep praying and fasting; keep sowing seeds; keep doing other good works. But don’t be anxious. By being anxious, you cannot add one cubit to your stature (Matthew 6:27).
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9 New Living Translation). Never get tired of doing good (2 Thessalonians 3:13). You won’t miss your divine encounter in Jesus’ name.
If you’re not born again, repent of your sins today and accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Whoever comes to Him, He will by no means cast out.
PRAYER POINT: Holy Spirit, help me to be faithful and remain faithful so that I won’t miss my divine encounter.
This is wisdom for living, and it’s worth sharing. Please share.
(For over 250 in-depth and insightful messages by T.O. Banso, visit: www.cedarministry.org).
▪ Banso heads Cedar Ministry International, and can be reached at
cedarministryintl@yahoo.com, cedarministryng@gmail.com
Tel No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523; WhatsApp No: +2349081295947