Good news about the vehicle situation (refer to September 17).
It has been a little over 30 days since the actual incident where my 2000 Ford Excursion spontaneously caught fire at a job site. I tried not to fret too much and it worked out with borrowed rides from my children and Hertz. (My daughter even went to Italy so I could use her car for nine days!) Friends and family lifted up prayers of comfort and petitions for my needs. The insurance reps were amiable and settled within three weeks.
I ventured out one evening and hastily left behind one used car dealership with nothing gained but a credit report.
I checked out other leads on used cars recommended by friends. My son, in Florida, had two reasonable vehicles at the pawnshop where he works, with only 150,000 actual miles on the odometers. I even visited the grassy used car lot maintained by the Salvation Army….
My heavenly Father knew the work and ministry he has put in my path. If it were to continue in that way, I would have to have a utility vehicle that could pull a trailer. It needed to be dependable if I travel any distance to work and more miles to the gallon of gas would be helpful. I needed a payment of no more than $300.
I was willing to go in a different direction, if He was showing me to change my pursuits. A small car would fit my need for transportation to and from a job. And it would be easier on the budget.
On Tuesday, I asked God to lead us to the right financial and auto situation. I still had a few days available with the rental car, so I only planned to look.
The south Louisiana autumn air was vaguely cool as we pulled randomly into Team Honda. Of course, we were too soon cordially confronted by an eager salesman named Josh.
As this was to be the first stop of our afternoon search, I did not want to encourage him too much. I told him what we were looking for and he proceeded to take us on a tour of the back lots, with fresh deposits of trade-ins, front-lot hopefuls and employee vehicles.
At the very dead end of the cyclone fence and vehicular maze, he showed me a mildly interesting Trailblazer. It wasn’t my dream car – but it was pretty. Sure, he needed me to test drive it so that he could say that I did. I reluctantly obliged him.
Besides it would get me back up to the front where my car was parked.
It was a little smaller than the Excursion, a few years newer, double the gas mileage expectation, one third of the miles on the odometer and it could easily pull a trailer. Granted it would fit our work needs. But the price sticker told the tale of a $400 payment.
To sum it up, without losing stride by Thursday, Josh and Cathy, the business manager, found a way to reach my goals. There was no place I could object, if God was up in the middle of this. I had invited Him to be there...
When I did stumble and doubt that I deserved to have a useful --and pretty -- tool parked in my driveway, my faithful Father reminded me that he was a good Father.
I had asked Him to take care of me. And He showed off.
As I was typing this, it occurred to me that I have been on a journey, an amazing “excursion”, a trip of consequence. It has been good and worthwhile and we have all learned many things and seen many new territories. I have come to the end of the known trail, the marked path, traveled by many. As the “straw” , (the physical vehicle) burned away, it was not the end of the journey or even a stop sign. It is not a time to put on the brakes and make a tight u-turn. The hour has come to plunge in, cutting away the tangled underbrush and briers that keep one from seeing the true, deep-rooted forest and the protective, healing canopy. “Trailblazing” is a strenuous task requiring diligence and perseverance. One has to have a clear vision of where you want to finish and know that this is the only way to end up in that place. Fully understand that it will be worth it - because it is often lonely; the briers and fallen limbs will scratch and trip you, but any who follow will thank you.
I Corinthians 3:11 -14 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. 12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Fasting
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I have been thinking about fasting a lot lately. To sacrifice something to
in order to eliminate any idols in life to draw closer to the one True God.
Jesu...
15 years ago