My Walk to Humility

Part Two of my Surrender Story. Read Part One by Clicking here.

Written by: Wyatt Drost

Verse: John 13:7, Ephesians 2:10 Song: Lost in Your Love by Brandon Lake

When I was a toddler, my Mom had a complete stranger approach her and prophesy that I (a 3 year old) would one day be a pastor. She thought the guy was crazy, until it happened again when I was a teenager. A few years into my marriage, walking through our church parking lot in Georgia with one of the pastors on staff, my wife stated out of nowhere that our future didn’t consist of careers in the health field, but rather in ministry. We had never discussed this with each other before (we were brand new baby Christians), and considering we were both knee deep in grad school for careers in the health field, It didn’t exactly make sense. We laughed it off, never giving it any real thought or consideration.

We completed our schooling and graduated. Myself a Chiropractor, Jessi a Registered Dietitian (A little praise plug for my wife, she graduated top of her class as Valedictorian!), and we went on to start our careers in Colorado. We said goodbye to old friends, made new friends, joined small groups and served at our church. We grew in our spiritual walk, in our family size, and in maturity (thankfully!). Adulthood had begun, and we were forging our path out West. We never had thoughts about ministry or having that be a part of our lives. We were content in our work fields. Until one day we weren’t.

A New Stirring Begins

Shortly after having our second baby, a stirring began to happen within us. We felt conviction to move back to Michigan (something we never thought we’d do), and a desire to work more tangibly for the Lord. We assumed we would do this in our businesses and within our home; that our life would be a ministry for God. That’s what made the most sense. So to Michigan we went, ready to create our own life and our own path, only to have every door slam in our faces (read the story here).

Around the time we moved to Northern Michigan, God began to press on me a new path to take. With every slammed door, and every moment spent in prayer trying to figure out why my plans weren’t working, I was met with the same pressing. I was to be a pastor. But truthfully, I didn’t want that path. I wanted to make my own.

My mind felt like a constant battle with God over the whole thing. There’s no way I’m doing that. I’m not even a little bit qualified. I haven’t even read the whole bible yet! How could I be a pastor? I have only been a chiropractor for two and a half years, wasn’t that enough student loan debt to last a lifetime? Why would God have us move back to Michigan, if only to suddenly have us change careers and potentially move again?

It just didn’t make logical sense! (I’m driven by logic, remember?)

I kept these promptings from the Lord to myself, and I carried on trying to force my own path and plans (again, go read it here, it wasn’t my best leadership moment to say the least). He didn’t let me off the hook though. For each door that God slammed in my face, he would send a reminder of what he was asking me to do. It was uncanny how often random people (some not even believers) would mention to me that I would make a good pastor, or that I should be a pastor. Not only that, but out of nowhere pastors in the area began to pursue me, offering friendship and mentorship. My wife kept praying for the Lord to reveal to us which path to take, and each time she prayed, the Holy Spirit met her with the same answer; “Wyatt already knows”. How could she know that?! The Holy Spirit was working, but I still was in denial and against it. I wanted MY private practice. I wasn’t yet willing to surrender.

Finally, after a few more months of self induced agony (sorry Jessi), my moment of surrender came.

I Surrender All

We had a close friend of ours come to visit; someone who has been a great source of Godly counsel for us. I was in my familiar place of “woe is me”, and God was once again pressing on my heart that I was trying to force the wrong path. Jessi and our friend were sitting across from me, deep in conversation, when mid sentence Jessi stopped and looked at me. Questioning eyes bearing into me, she randomly asked “what is God telling you to do right now? He’s telling you what to do, I know it!!”. I smirked behind my fist that was covering my mouth, hoping to hide myself away. I had been called out! For a brief moment, I sat in silence, pondering my future. Do I cry uncle? Do I throw in the towel? Do I wave the white flag of surrender? Or do I keep living in denial, telling God no. I’m afraid to admit I don’t want the path he has for me. I’m afraid I’ll fail.

I broke the long silence, and said “it makes no sense, but since moving back to Michigan months ago, I think God has been telling me to be a pastor…”

Jessi nor our friend were surprised. Why was I the only one in disbelief over this? While it wasn’t our first choice to change careers and have absolutely no idea what he future would hold, the room filled with an unexplainable kind of excitement. Like a weight in the air had been lifted. Huh. That’s what choosing to follow God’s path can do. It gives peace that makes no sense, joy in the midst of chaos, sense to a situation that seems senseless. (SO hard for my analytical brain!)

We stayed up late that night, deep in conversation and in prayer, and I finally surrendered it all to God. I said, “If God is really calling me to be a pastor, then I’m all in!”

I stopped all efforts to open a chiropractic office, and for the first time I truly asked God to make my path known. I loved being a chiropractor; I didn’t want to give it up. But if God was asking me too, I would. I was finally at the point where living in alignment to God’s plan for my life, was more important that getting my own way. Thankfully though, God had a gift for me.

Open up the Flood Gates

The following morning, we listened to our pastor preach about the importance of being 100% committed to the path God has for your life. Message received.

We decided it was time to seek wise counsel, and pray over our next steps. Knowing more student loan debt wasn’t an option for our family, Jessi once again encouraged me to reach out to a chiropractor in the area who had previously expressed a desire to hire an associate doctor. As much as it hurt to swallow my pride and humble myself, I made the call. And you know what happened? The flood gates opened right up!

This doctor didn’t offer me an associate position. I wasn’t being hired as a business partner. I wouldn’t have to work under the limitations that came with being an independent contractor. In fact, I was offered a too good to be true opportunity to run my own business out of her space (a blessing from above that truly still makes little sense to me). I was immediately approved for a small line of credit, after previously being rejected over and over. It allowed me the ability to focus less on building a full blown operation, with high overhead and nose to grind work 7 days a week. It instead gave me the freedom to focus too on the convictions pressed on us when we first followed the path to Michigan. Convictions to slow down and stop living out of alignment with God. To practice true sabbath, to grow our marriage, to intentionally pour into and disciple our kids, to work towards ministry, to build up a community of believers around us, to find mentors and humbly grow, to build our life on the true foundation of God instead of on cultural norms. It’s allowed me the time to step into pastoral studies, and the space to take my time and glean wisdom from wise counsel before moving forward.

As we stepped into these convictions, God had more blessings to give. We were generously provided a place to live in a great time of need (another story to come), that again wouldn’t sink us financially . We went from every single door shut in our faces, to every (right) door opening. Doors that only opened because I finally surrendered my life to God’s will. And in that surrender, I took a step towards freedom and growth.

We may think we have it all figured out. That we have a pretty good idea of what our life should look like, but let me tell you, it pales in comparison to what God has for you. The blessings that await you when you stop fighting against God and his ways, are worth the humble surrender. He created us after all, and if he did that, I believe his plans for our life are better than our own. We don’t know exactly what this path looks like for our family, and that is fine by me. The Lord will guide us one step at a time, we just need to surrender our plans to him.

Living all our lives for Jesus (our family motto), begins with surrendering all of our lives to Jesus. A lesson I don't plan on forgetting anytime soon. I pray that through my story, you are encouraged to do the same.