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Dear Friends,

While I hold a very high view of God’s sovereignty, I tend to be leery of “seeing His hand” in daily incidentals. Don’t misunderstand. I don’t believe He’s absent from the details of life, but I do want to avoid a very common error: trying to discern His will from patterns I see in the shifting sands of circumstance. Yet I have also learned to remain sensitive to when I might be attempting to rush God’s timing. In those situations, I usually find myself staring at round holes with a stack of square pegs in my hands.

Such was Paul’s experience in Acts 16:6-13. After encouraging the churches in Derbe and Lystra, he and his entourage would have continued westward into the Roman province of Asia if the Holy Spirit had not diverted them. It appears that something prevented the missionary team’s progress. Circumstances? Bad roads? Political barriers? Whatever the obstacle, Paul wisely saw it as an indication that God’s timing for the evangelization of Asia had not yet ripened. The Lord used unfavorable circumstances to direct Paul’s steps toward Greece. The cities in Asia would have to wait.

This illustrates two principles. First, if we remain sensitive to the Lord’s leading, we may discover that unfavorable circumstances in one direction often lead us to greater opportunities in another. Second, despite how well we study a situation and plan our strategies, they will be met with frustration when we try to rush the Lord’s timing. Our best response is to plan, prepare, pray . . . and then wait. I have discovered that when God’s time is ripe, plans flow with uncanny ease.

For many years, we at Insight for Living have longed to open an office in England so that we could better serve the needs of listeners in the United Kingdom and Europe. But each plan seemed to generate three problems for every two we solved. I didn’t hear the Lord speak, but the message was clear: Cool it, Swindoll. So . . . we waited.

Two years ago, a chance encounter began a long chain of coincidences. Of course, the encounter was anything but chance, and the coincidences bear the unmistakable fingerprints of God. I remain leery of “seeing His hand” in daily incidentals, but these events were too perfectly timed and too expertly crafted to be anything less than the work of Providence. The time for an office to serve the United Kingdom is ripe!

I am pleased to announce that our executive director of Insight for Living-United Kingdom,
Scott Bean, has relocated to a town near London, where he and a team are presently organizing an office. This headquarters in England will manage our relationships with radio stations in the United Kingdom and Europe, respond to listeners' questions and requests for Bible study materials, and, most importantly, will establish and carry out strategies to evangelize the United Kingdom and nurture believers with teaching from God’s Word.

As the plans for establishing a permanent presence in the United Kingdom continue to flow, we must become neither complacent nor overly confident. The Lord has opened the way, but He has tasked us—all of us—to meet this opportunity with action. And to move forward, we now need you.

Will you join us as we take this bold step to meet the needs of listeners in the United Kingdom
and Europe? Would you consider sending a gift today? As always, the funds you send to
Insight for Living will be managed with the highest level of integrity and invested directly in the proclamation of God’s Word. Your partnership with us is crucial as Scott and his team begin to equip the new office and recruit Christian workers. Thank you for being generous in your response.

Gratefully yours,

Charles R. Swindoll