Divine Appointments
Timothy L. Farnes, Young Men General President
President Farnes encourages us to recognize divine appointments and minister with Christlike compassion.
Open talk in Gospel LibraryIdeas for Opening the Lesson
- Write “It’s what we do, isn’t it?” on the board. Invite class members to identify everyday actions that characterize covenant followers of Jesus Christ. Introduce President Farnes’s invitation to make compassionate ministering a natural expression of discipleship.
- Read the account of Elder Oaks asking, “Brother, tell me how you are really doing.” Ask what makes this question different from a routine greeting and what helps someone feel safe giving an honest answer. Invite the class to consider how sincere listening creates opportunities to minister.
- Draw two columns on the board labeled “Interruption” and “Invitation.” Describe an everyday situation, such as someone needing help while you are busy, and invite members to explore both perspectives. Connect their observations to the Savior’s example of seeing people as His mission rather than interruptions to it.
- Read the statement, “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.” Give members a quiet moment to consider how their sacrament worship connects with their interactions during the week. Invite a few voluntary responses without asking anyone to disclose private experiences.
- Invite members to picture an ordinary place they visit, such as a store, workplace, airport, or neighborhood sidewalk. Ask them to consider who there might need encouragement or practical help. Introduce “divine appointments” as opportunities to recognize and compassionately serve people God places in their path.
Topics
Lift Others Through Compassionate Listening
President Farnes’s experience with Elder Oaks illustrates how sincere attention, listening, gratitude, and encouragement strengthen someone who feels discouraged. Compassionate ministering does not require a memorable achievement or public recognition. It becomes a natural expression of following Jesus Christ.
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.
- What does Elder Oaks’s question, “Brother, tell me how you are really doing,” teach us about compassionate listening?
- When you feel discouraged, what kinds of listening or encouragement help you feel valued?
- How can we make room for an honest answer when we ask someone how they are doing?
- What does “It’s what we do, isn’t it?” suggest about the place of compassion in our identity as disciples?
- What experiences in your life illustrate the lasting influence of a seemingly small act of kindness?
- Who in your everyday life might benefit from your sincere attention, and how can you offer it this week?
Keep Sacrament Covenants Through Daily Ministering
Taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ means choosing to see, feel, and act as He does. President Farnes connects the covenant we make during the sacrament with the compassion we offer throughout the week. The Lord’s promise of His Spirit enables us to minister with His power and 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.
- How does this talk deepen your understanding of taking upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ?
- What might it look like for someone who encounters us to experience the Savior’s kindness, patience, hope, love, or compassion?
- How can remembering the sacrament influence the way we treat people on an ordinary weekday?
- What role does the companionship of the Spirit play in helping us minister as the Savior does?
- Which Christlike quality named in the talk do you feel invited to develop, and what practice can help you develop it?
- How can daily ministering become an expression of covenant worship rather than another item on a checklist?
See Divine Appointments Instead of Interruptions
President Farnes uses the story of the wounded traveler on the road to Jericho to show how seeing another person’s need awakens compassion and leads to action. The Savior treats people as His mission, not as obstacles to it. As we develop eyes to see, ordinary encounters become invitations to minister.
To Jesus, these people were not interrupting His mission. They were His mission.
- What changes when we view a person’s need as an invitation rather than an interruption?
- In the story of the wounded traveler, how does the connection between seeing, compassion, and action guide our own ministering?
- What habits or assumptions make it difficult to notice the people around us?
- What experiences help you recognize the value of an unexpected opportunity to serve?
- How can we become more attentive to people whose needs are quiet or easy to overlook?
- What can we do when an opportunity to minister arises while we are tired, busy, or focused on another responsibility?
Respond to the Spirit and Look Again
The airport account shows how a prompting to look again helps President Farnes recognize a frightened missionary’s need. Choosing compassion rather than judgment allows him to understand the person in front of him. Prayer and attentiveness help us recognize similar opportunities in our own lives.
But the Spirit prompted me to look again.
- What does the invitation to “look again” teach us about responding to first impressions?
- How might judgment prevent us from understanding what another person needs?
- What helps you remain attentive to spiritual promptings during ordinary activities?
- What experiences illustrate how a second look or a sincere question opens an opportunity to help?
- How can we respond when we realize we are slow to notice someone’s need?
- What might change in your daily routine if you pray specifically for eyes to see divine appointments?
Put Compassion into Practical Action
President Farnes and his wife help the missionary through simple, practical acts: offering reassurance, providing guidance, and accompanying him to his mission leaders. Their example shows that meaningful ministering does not always require much from us. Compassion becomes a blessing as we act and remain attentive to what the person needs.
All we had to do was see the person God had placed in our path, look with compassion rather than judgment, and then act.
- What do the practical details of helping the missionary teach us about effective ministering?
- How can we discover what help a person actually needs rather than assume we already know?
- What makes the difference between feeling compassion and putting compassion into action?
- How can appropriate follow-through help someone feel supported rather than left alone?
- What examples from your life show that a small act of service can carry great meaning?
- What simple action can you take this week to help someone God places in your path?
Additional Discussion Questions
- How does the talk connect our identity as covenant followers of Christ with the way we respond to strangers?
- What do the temple and airport accounts together teach about ministering in both sacred settings and ordinary places?
- How can our quorum or Relief Society cultivate a culture in which people feel noticed and safe asking for help?
- What does the Savior’s example teach us about the relationship between seeing someone and truly understanding them?
- How can we practice compassion toward someone whose behavior initially frustrates or confuses us?
- How can we offer genuine encouragement without minimizing another person’s difficulty?
- What helps us offer compassionate service without expecting recognition or appreciation?
- How can we teach children and youth to notice needs and respond with kindness in everyday situations?
- Which invitation in this talk feels most important for your discipleship right now, and why?
- What specific prayer, habit, or action can help you live the message of “divine appointments” during the coming week?
