But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and proceed southward…So he got up and went. – Acts 8: 26-27, AMP

The day before Mother’s Day 2011 I had a thought pop into my mind. My idea was to drop everything I was doing, hop in the car, and drive four hours to my mother’s house to surprise her for Mother’s Day. I then thought about how inconvenient that would be because of all of the stuff I had to do at home. So, rather that driving to see Mom, I settled for my traditional Mother’s Day phone call.

Six days later, my mother was dead.

The older we get, the busier we become, and we have to plan in order to make sure the most important things get taken care of. But sometimes God prompts us to drop everything we are doing to visit a family member, to call on a friend, or to serve a total stranger who is in need either spiritually or physically. When prompted to do something that we didn’t plan on doing, we usually put it off, fully intending to do that thing later, when it’s more convenient. Usually, however, later is too late.

In Acts 8, Philip’s plans were to travel back to Jerusalem with the other apostles. But when The Lord instructed Philip to break off from the group and head towards Gaza, he obeyed, and an Ethiopian eunuch came to Christ.

Great blessings come when we abandon our plans in favor of God’s. Great regrets come when we don’t. The next time God prompts you to drop what you are doing to do something else, obey immediately. If you do, you and others will be blessed. If you don’t, you and others will suffer regret.