Early last fall, around the time that our family typically purchases tickets to return to Thailand, we were in Alaska working with our church there and helping in various ministries in the area. In September we began to pray about the timing of our return to Chiang Mai and surprisingly both of us had the feeling that we shouldn’t return just yet. This was odd considering that for several years we had developed a routine of winter in Thailand and summer in the States. Not returning in the fall would throw off what we considered our normal schedule. But, we were involved in personal ministry with several hurting families in the area so we assumed that the Lord had us staying longer to help them and accepted this schedule shift. Within a week or so, a friend from church said, “You guys are here longer than normal this time. We need someone to house sit for 2 months while we’re down south for work and God brought you to mind.” So we took that as an extra sign that we were to stay put for at least a couple more months.
In October we were with the Eubank family at a missions conference our church in Alaska puts on. We told Dave about our feeling that we should stay in Alaska longer, and he jokingly replied, “Oh sure, just living it up here in Alaska!” But he did understand our feeling that God was doing something different and encouraged us to follow that direction.
The very next day is when we received the call that money had been donated for a new aircraft! That night Dave pulled us aside and said, “How amazing that God knew the timing of this donation and was directing your family ahead of time. You are where you need to be!”
Less than one week after the donation, we purchased an amazing aircraft in Texas at the very airport we had been having purchase planning meetings for over a year. We knew we needed to be in Texas to oversee this new project so staying on in the States was the right decision! We moved down to Texas in January and will share more about that next time.
If we had trusted our “normal” routine or followed our own schedule it would have been a very different story for our family. It is so crucial to trust the voice of the Lord and remember that we don’t have the full picture of his plan or of his timing. We have to trust his leading each step along the way and be okay when we don’t understand everything. Trusting he is in control and following in faith is so critical!
Proverbs 16:9- “A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”
Psalm 37:23- “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.”
Thanks y'all,
Zack and Sarah