Divine Appointments
As covenant followers of Jesus Christ, we minister with compassion to whomever God places in our path.
It’s What We Do, Isn’t It?
I’ll never forget a Saturday almost 20 years ago. I had just been called into a stake presidency and hadn’t yet been released as bishop. We had five young children, a business to run, and a full day of Church meetings, starting at 8:00 a.m. and concluding with a ward temple night. It was a busy time, and I wanted to give my all to the Lord, but I was never sure if I had enough to give.
At a midday leadership meeting, the presiding authority invited questions. I gathered my courage and asked a question about an administrative matter that was troubling me. Instead of getting a helpful answer, I felt like my question was dismissed. I felt a little disheartened and unappreciated. I questioned why I was sacrificing so much if I was going to feel this way.
I left that meeting with no desire to attend the ward temple night. I called my wife, told her how discouraged I was, and said, “Let’s go to dinner instead of the temple.”
Linsey wisely responded, “No, I think you need to be in the temple. We’ll talk after.”
So I went to the temple, but not with the best attitude.
As I entered the dressing room, grumbling to myself, I heard someone say, “How are you, brother?”
It was Elder Dallin H. Oaks.
We had never met before, and I wasn’t about to tell a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles how discouraged I felt. So I forced a smile and said, “Everything’s great!”
I changed into my temple clothes, and as I walked out, to my surprise, Elder Oaks was waiting for me.
He said, “Brother, tell me how you are really doing.”
Something about the compassion in his voice helped me open up. Elder Oaks listened. He expressed sincere gratitude, said some encouraging words, and even answered my administrative question. Then he gave me a big hug, and in an instant I went from feeling like giving up to feeling like I could give my whole soul in service to the Lord.
Five years later, my wife and I were invited to meet with Elder Oaks in his office. You can imagine my excitement to reminisce about the experience we had shared. I asked him, “Do you remember the conversation we had in the temple?”
“I don’t think so,” he said. “Have we met before?”
I recounted the experience and reminded him how his act of compassion had lifted my spirits and changed my life.
Elder Oaks responded, “I’m sorry, brother. I don’t remember that.” Then, sensing my disappointment, he added, “But it’s what we do. Isn’t it?”
Those words have stayed with me ever since. That is what we do. As covenant followers of Jesus Christ, we minister with compassion to whomever God places in our path. We do it because that’s what the Savior did. And we’ve made a covenant to follow Him.
A Covenant of Compassion
Each Sabbath day, when you and I partake of the sacrament, we witness to our Father in Heaven our willingness to take upon ourselves the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. That means we choose to see as He sees, feel as He feels, and do as He would do. His life should be reflected in ours. It means that when someone encounters us, they should experience something of Jesus Christ—His kindness, His patience, His hope, His love, His compassion.
Our promise of willingness is met by the Lord’s promise that we can always have His Spirit with us. With that gift, we can minister as the Savior would, with His power and His loving kindness.
We make the covenant during sacred time with God every Sunday. A way we keep the covenant is by ministering to God’s children every day. Often this happens when God places someone in our path and we have eyes to see them. I call these “divine appointments.”
Eyes to See
When Jesus was asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He answered with a story about a man who had eyes to see. In the story, a traveler lay wounded on the road to Jericho. Where others saw an inconvenience or an interruption, one man saw an opportunity to minister—a divine appointment. Seeing awakened compassion. Compassion moved him to act. And his actions changed a life forever.
This pattern defined the Savior’s ministry. He turned ordinary encounters with people into extraordinary moments of healing, encouragement, and transformation. To Jesus, these people were not interrupting His mission. They were His mission.
God has given us eyes to see. When we use them, we begin to recognize divine appointments all around us. What once looked like random encounters become invitations from the Lord to minister with compassion.
That’s what the Savior did. It’s what His prophet does. And it’s what we do, isn’t it?
Minister to the One God Places in Your Path
A few years ago, my wife and I were waiting to board a flight for a much-needed vacation. We arrived at the airport early, and I put my earbuds in and started reading a book, thankful for a few quiet moments to myself.
Before long, I glanced up and saw a young missionary sitting across from me. He looked frightened and anxious. His eyes were closed, he was rocking back and forth, and tears were streaming down his cheeks. Clutched in his hands were his boarding pass and a digital alarm clock.
After briefly imagining the various reasons a missionary might look so anxious, I returned to my book. But the Spirit prompted me to look again.
When I did, I saw his tear-filled eyes looking at me, pleading for help.
“Are you OK?” I asked.
In broken, timid English, he explained that he was on the way to his mission, it was going to be his first time on an airplane alone, and he was terrified. I learned he was a long way from his home country and he was holding the alarm clock to make sure he didn’t miss the plane.
Embarrassed by how slow I had been to help this elder, I explained that my wife and I would be on the same flight, and we would make sure he made it on the plane.
Linsey and I walked him to the gate and showed him the door he would go through. Soon it was our turn to board, so Linsey and I left him at the gate and took our seats.
As the plane filled up, we anxiously watched for our missionary friend, but there was no sign of him. I worried we had made a big mistake by boarding without him.
Finally, there he was—like every missionary, the last one to board—still clutching his boarding pass and alarm clock, making his way toward the only empty seat, at the back of the plane.
It was the seat next to me.
We smiled at each other, amazed at how God had arranged even a small detail like that one. Then the elder, finally relaxing a bit, fell fast asleep.
When we landed, I woke him, and the panic returned to his face as he worried about what to do next. Where was he supposed to go? What if there was no one waiting for him?
Linsey and I helped him get off the plane and walked him, arm in arm, not to lose him again, all the way to the baggage claim area. Waiting for him there were his mission leaders. Knowing what a special moment this always is, we were excited to see this new missionary being greeted by his leaders for the very first time.
But to our surprise, our friend didn’t run to his mission leaders. Instead, he dropped his bags and gave Linsey and me a big hug of love and appreciation.
What we did for that elder didn’t require much of us, but this ordinary encounter became a divine appointment we will always treasure. All we had to do was see the person God had placed in our path, look with compassion rather than judgment, and then act.
Brothers and sisters, let us pray every day for eyes to see the divine appointments God places before us! Let us put compassion into action and minister to the person in front of us. It’s what Jesus did.
And it’s what we do.
In the sacred name we take upon ourselves by covenant, even Jesus Christ, amen.