Our car had been having some problems for a while, but until then they were always minor issues. Dashboard lights that came on unexpectedly without any apparent problem, or the interior lights that suddenly wouldn’t turn off, LOL. Annoying, but not insurmountable.
Until that one Sunday.
We were on our way to church, or at least, we were about to leave. It was a cold Sunday morning, and we started the car in the driveway. We quickly looked at each other because it was making a very strange, heavy sound. We briefly considered whether we should go, but since my husband and I were leading the youth service that day, we weren’t willing to let it stop us.
Since we’ve been leading the youth service at our church, we’ve noticed more and more often that the enemy isn’t so happy about this, LOL. We’re increasingly finding ourselves in battle with him because of it. Oh well, that doesn’t make us “take the piss out of it,” as they sometimes say here in the Netherlands when you don’t shy away from adversity.
That morning was no exception, but we decided to leave anyway. Maybe it was because the weather was so cold and it was having trouble starting. We let it run for a bit and then headed out.
After about twenty minutes on the road, the rumbling noise persisted, so we decided to take an exit and, at the nearest parking spot, ask God for help on what to do. By now, we were seriously doubting whether we should continue driving; after all, the church is about an hour’s drive away. We prayed, and my husband had an impression: God reminded him of the words on the shirt he was wearing that day, “Just use it!”…with a picture of a brain, LOL. Yep, we need to use our brains…and so he decided to turn around and head straight home, not moving another inch in our car.
We’d barely turned around when a thick, dark plume of smoke followed us the rest of the way home.
There it was, our gray car, back in the driveway, and we had no idea what to do next. Should we get it fixed? But well, given the year and mileage, it wasn’t really worth investing much money in anymore, and besides, we didn’t even have the financial means to fix it…not to mention another car! We were literally up against the wall, with a broken car whose repairs seemed quite expensive (in the real world) and no financial resources…zero, nil, nada, nothing.
We really had to leave it to God and have faith.
“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalms 37:4
For several days straight, we prayed and asked God for help, provision to fix it, and even a new car, LOL. God is a good Father, and He wants to give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4), yes, even material things. When we look at Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and many other examples in the Bible, we see that God blessed these people with material things as well (Genesis 26:12-14, Genesis 13:2). It doesn’t matter to God what car you drive; He simply wants to bless you.
“Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him” – Genesis 26:12-14
Anyway, we stayed calm and decided not to run from God this time, as we sometimes tend to do. Meanwhile, we did look into a possible new car, our (sad) savings account, and even a personal loan! But still, we decided to do NOTHING until we heard from God. By then, through our trepidation and struggles, we had learned that God ALWAYS answers!
Finally, the breakthrough came…
Spoiler alert: we didn’t receive a new car (yet😉) #sad LOL, but God did provide a solution!
Hallelujah!
Two days after our adventure with the smoke plume, I had a quiet time with God and asked Him again to provide a solution or show us what was wrong with our car. Immediately, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, “Spark plugs!”
Okay, I’m no “car expert”; I know the word “spark plugs,” but that’s about it. I don’t even know what they look like! This was obviously not my own. I asked God, “Is that what’s wrong with it, Lord?” and immediately received a short but powerful “Yes,” followed by the response that it wasn’t time for a new car yet and that we had to be patient… #sad, I thought again, but hey, if this one runs again, I’ll be so happy, Lord!
I told my husband to check the spark plugs, because God had said that was what was wrong. He immediately went (on my scooter, LOL) to the shop to make spark plugs and then got to work.
A few hours later, the new spark plugs were under the hood, the old ones were in the trash, and our car was running like the sunshine again, without any plumes of smoke or noise!
Praise the Lord!!
Moral of the story: Do not lean on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6), and bring all your worries to God!
From small to large, we can lay everything before Him, and He delights when we involve Him in everything we do, encounter, or make decisions!
He wants nothing more than to be with us in every aspect of our lives.
Even in the help of making our cars 😉!
