When we saw the money appear in our account we knew exactly what it was for. We praised God for it, but did not pray about its use. Of course we knew what it was for; it was the perfect amount to pay off our debt and we had been praying for it to come in for months. So when we realized we were wrong about the purpose of the money we were shocked .... but yet humbled in realizing how great God is.
We were driving up I-5, headed home after several months of being in Southern California, when our car started to shudder and backfire constantly. It felt as if a huge bag of popcorn was popping underneath us it was so bad. And then it got loud, really loud. A quick stop at a gas station and a look under the car and we realized that the backfiring had caused a hole to open in the muffler. After two more hours of suffering through it and then starting to lose power ever so slightly we finally made it to the Bay area where an old friend of Mikes had found a host home for us.
We spent 8 days there. Mike and his car savvy friend spent countless hours under the hood to no avail. Finally we caved and took it to a mechanic. It took them 3 days to figure it out, but thankfully it was a cheap fix and we were able to get back on the road to Salem. At least thats what we thought until we were less than thirty minutes out and the shuddering started up again. This time the backfiring was worse and we only made it another few miles before we stopped to think. Both our nerves were on edge and the prospect of having to endure it for another 9 hours was horrendous. Our only option was to turn back. It took us 2 hours to traverse backward what should have been 1 hour. Obviously, the car was NOT fixed.
Thankfully our host took us back in and recommended a different mechanic. The only problem, they said he had a tendency to get pricey real fast.
We were broken. How could we pay for the car? All the money we had was set aside for something else, which God had provided it for. But had He really?
We sent the car to the new mechanic and prayed. We asked God to keep the price low or to show us a different way to get back home, but He didn’t. Instead the estimate came back at $800! We didn’t have that money! .... but wait ... actually we did. Maybe, just maybe, the money was for our car .... maybe God had known we would need it to get back home.
We thought about selling the car and taking a train home, but we always ended up with the same problem: we need a car. The car had been given to us at near nothing, it was in great condition, and hardly had any miles on it especially for its age. Even if we could sell it for a thousand, after paying to get us back to Oregon, there was no way we could find a car that good for that cheap. We had to fix it.
It took us realizing that we hadn’t asked God in the first place to be open to the idea of spending the money to fix the car. And when we did, we felt humbled and blessed. Yes, we needed the money for something else, but this was our need right now and God had provided ahead of time. He had promised to provide for us and He did.
Once we calculated the exact cost, including all the work Mike had done plus the mechanics plus all the extra gas, we realized He had provided our need down to the very cents. Wow! Our God really does provide.
After 11 days in the Bay area we made our second attempt home and succeeded this time with ease.
We are humbled to learn this lesson, yet again. Hopefully in the future we will remember what God has provided and promised and trust in Him more.
