I was scheduled to travel with the Deacons Prison Ministry for five days to minister to the Ohio prison system on June 25. My wife was pregnant with our first child and her expected due date was July 11. Through much prayer and discussion, we felt that it would be okay if I went on this crusade. There was time, as it was still a few weeks away. To make a long story short, we were wrong!
On the day I left, my wife had her weekly routine check up. About 15 minutes before arriving at our first prison, my wife called me and said that her blood pressure was elevated for the second week in a row and because of that, they wanted to induce her that night. That certainly wasn’t the news I was expecting to hear, so I began calling around trying to secure a rental car. The first couple I tried had no cars available. By the grace of God, my third attempt worked. The challenge, however, was that they closed in a half hour and they were 20 minutes away. There was very little time to waste.
We pulled into an Industrial building lot one minute from the prison to meet up with three of our teammates from Wisconsin. I got out of the van immediately, said goodbye to my teammates, and got into the Wisconsin car, where my brother in The Lord drove me to Enterprise Car Rental. I got there five minutes before closing. Afterwards, I drove six hours straight back home, picked up my wife, and headed to the hospital.
After she was induced for over 48 hours and in many moments of unbearable pain, our beautiful little miracle finally greeted the world on June 28 at 2:01 a.m.! Both mom and our little guy are healthy and we are now on our way to the next journey of our life as a family.
This entertaining story is a classic reminder from Isaiah 55:8-9 that our plans and ways are certainly not God’s plans and ways.
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
I didn’t get to minister that week with my teammates in prison. Was I a little sad about that? Yes. I may never know why God chose for my wife to give birth early. The truth is that it doesn’t matter. It just wasn’t part of His plan. What was part of His plan, however, was that I was by my wife’s side the entire time and there to experience the birth of our son.
Should we seek the Lord and develop plans in our everyday lives? Of course. Should we also be open to God changing those plans? Absolutely. A simple truth to remember is that He ALWAYS has our best interest in mind.
Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
I have heard it said many times that the key to ministry and serving is flexibility. So as we live out our lives and develop our plans, let us serve with flexible obedience, never forgetting to seek The Lord and walk in The Holy Spirit. That way, we’ll end up embracing His will and enjoying the journey!
Wayne Errig