Right Place, Right Time

Sixty-seven-year-old Dorothy Fletcher had a heart attack on an airplane in 2003. When an attendant asked if there was a doctor on the plane, 15 cardiologists stood up to help—they were en route to a conference. Right place, right time stories can be very powerful. We all have a right place, right time story; the Bible is filled with them because “right place, right time” is how God operates all the time.

One right place, right time story comes from Acts 8 when an angel of the Lord told Philip to walk down a particular stretch of road from Jerusalem to Gaza.

“So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.” (Acts 8:27-28)

Philip obeyed the angel and he found himself in the right place at the right time. 

"The Holy Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and walk along beside the carriage.’

"Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’” (Acts 8:29-30)

Philip’s life is an example of obedience. He was selected to help distribute food and he acted in obedience by accepting that job in the church (Acts 6). Philip obeyed and took the message of the gospels to Samaria where the people accepted Christ (Acts 8:9-13). Philip did not let any feelings of inferiority stop him, he did not wrestle with this command from the Spirit, and he did not argue or try to reason his way out. Philip ran in obedience. When was the last time you ran to do something in obedience?

The eunuch did not understand what he was reading and Philip explained the passage and the Good News of Christ to him.

“As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?’ He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.” (Acts 8:36-38)

Philip’s right place, right time story led to a life baptized into Christ. If we turn our lives over to Him, die to our sinful nature, and walk with the Spirit—when we live a life of obedience, we will find ourselves in the right place at the right time because we will be walking in obedience with the Lord. Your journey to Christ and faith in Him is a right place, right time story. God’s timing is always right and when we obey we are putting ourselves in His hands as willing servants of the Lord. Think back on your journey to God and see God’s perfect right place, right time story in your life.

I’ll share one of my right place, right time stories: I had turned myself over to God and confessed my sins to Him and my wife. I was on the road to recovery and healing, and my church was having an Every Man’s Battle group, so I went with a friend because I desperately needed help in this area. That group started with 40-50 guys and ended with 8-10. After the conclusion of the group, three of us continued meeting, forming an accountability group. I started writing studies for our group meetings and these studies became the foundation of The Constant Battle. I was in the right place at the right time for the group at church which deepened my walk with Christ and it led to a great accountability group and to the creation of this site and the birth of a ministry. What is your right place, right time story? How are you living in obedience to God’s calling? Are you ready to run in obedience?

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed