“The mind of a person plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9 (NASB)
I was visiting a list of patients for my weekly volunteer hospital ministry last weekend. While following a list of patients, I entered one room on the list and after verifying the patient’s name, I told her mine, then explained that I’m from the hospital’s Christian Ministry of Care department.
She said very politely,
“Well, let me get one thing straight-I am Jewish.”
I asked her how she ended up on a Catholic census list, and she said that she was a student in Catholic schools during her early life. Somehow the hospital admitting department only heard that, instead of the fact that she is Jewish, and that was how she ended up on the Catholic census list.
I found her very interesting and told her that I grew up in the opposite situation, living in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, and attended several Bar mitzvahs of my Jewish friends. Then she said to me, “and I still know how to say a Hail Mary.”
She made me laugh out loud and our whole interaction gave me a spirit of joy that lasted the rest of the day. As I left the room, we said to each other, Shalom!”
I was thinking about how often a person might not be exactly who we first think they are. We are all multi-faceted, complex human beings and no one should ever be labeled. The one we think is the wrong person, might really be the right person, according to God’s plan, and what appears as an error may be part of His divine purpose. That’s what happened in the next true story.
A pastor of a church was waiting for a package on the scheduled day for delivery but he never received it. He found out that the carrier mistakenly delivered it to a home in a rural and remote area far away from his home. Instead of asking the carrier to pick it up and redirect the shipment to him, he decided to drive there and pick it up himself.
When he arrived at the home, he saw a critically ill 9 year old boy with his mother and grandmother, who were caring for him. They handed the Pastor his package, and in that moment, he knew in his spirit, that God deliberately led him to that exact home for a purpose.
He introduced himself to the family, learning that the boy’s name was Jonathan. He suffered from stage four brain cancer, and could no longer speak. The Pastor felt called to be a pastor to that family, since they had no other church affiliation. The mother and grandmother were unable to attend the church because of caregiving conditions and the distance from the church.
That weekend, the Pastor preached a sermon telling his congregation of his experience. His congregation gathered together and did whatever they could do to for the family, by visiting them, praying with them, bringing gifts, visiting Jonathan when he was hospitalized and simply being Jesus to that family in any way possible.
God uses mistakes for some very incredible and beautiful purposes. We never know how something that seemed to be an error was part of God’s eternal plan all along. We may make plans, but the Lord is really the One who directs our steps, whether we realize it or not.
Lord, you are an awesome God and your plans are the best, even when we think a mistake was made. Please direct our steps and make us instruments of your peace and love in this world. Amen
