kristaphillips OH MY GOODNESS!!!
On Thursday, I told the story of the not-so-smart car purchase my husband and I made about 7 years ago.
But I forgot one very important element… as I was focusing on my stupidity more than God’s amazing looking-after us.
Because… God DOES look after us.
If you didn’t read the story… you might want to otherwise this might not make sense…
So, when the car dealership agreed to “refund” us our money and take the car back, we were SUPER excited.
One problem though. We needed to return it IMMEDIATELY that day.
And it was sitting in our driveway, and would not start. We’d only gotten it to start a few times since getting it at home, but most of the time it wouldn’t even try.
I was at work and was going to meet him at the car dealership. So, my sweet husband who was at home with our two girls at the time, packed them up in the piece-of-junk car.
Sure enough, NO start. A few minutes later, he was getting SUPER frustrated and so was I, from afar.
Then my sweet Karalynn spoke up from the back seat. “Daddy, why don’t we just pray for Jesus to make the car start?”
So… he did. Probably a little nervous that a little girls faith would be rocked when God said no.
I think you can guess what happened….
Yup, the car started up on his first try after he finished his prayer.
Karalynn beamed she was so proud of herself for thinking of the obvious solution!
And Mommy for one was taught a great lesson.
The power and importance of not only prayer…. but in FAITH that God ANSWERS prayer.
Yes, he does sometimes say no on occasion. Maybe because we need to learn something first or because he has a better idea. There are probably a billion reasons why He says no sometimes.
But He also is a God that can be trusted, and taking our problems to Him, both big or small, is so important.
God wants to be involved in EVERY aspect of our lives and in ever problem… just not when we’ve reached our end.
That said, Scott and I went to look at a van this weekend! It doesn’t fit our “perfect-for-us” criteria to a T… but it is a super good option.
Both of us felt, though, that God was calling us to WAIT for Him to say yes or no and not to rush it. So we are spending a few days in prayer and told them that we’d get back to them mid-week. If it sells before then, then I guess we have our answer, hm?
Anyway, while vehicles are SO much lower on the importance scale than a whole bunch of other things… we would really appreciate your prayers in this, that we make a wise decision for our family and that we don’t “rush” into something that we’ll regret. And if this isn’t the one… that God would lead us to the RIGHT option for us in his perfect timing. And considering I was fairly certain I would find my transmission a mile behind me at one point today while driving our current van… I’m having a hard time not telling him that sooner would be better than later!
But… God knows.
His timing is PERFECT!!!
A lot of times that is my prayer..on things such as vehicles or our home or sometimes little purchases…"lord if it's your will it will be still be for sale and if not it will be gone"…he's answered by something being gone. Once didn't listen and it was still available and we picked a different vehicle instead it tore up a short time later should have listened to which vehicle God had in mind
My family has always owned old beaters, so I totally understand the importance of praying through a car purchase and car problems! I love seeing the way God cares about even the tiniest details. Last year, I was preparing for a several-month mission trip to China and I needed to buy warm clothes and luggage. I went to a thrift store and before going in, I prayed that I would find the things I needed at good prices so I could use the money God had given me for more important things, like plane tickets 🙂 Guess what? I found everything I needed that day and another customer let me have one of her 1/2 off coupons!
I remember when Bob and I were given an old beat up station wagon that belonged to Bob's grandfather. With five children it felt like a gift from Heaven. Unfortunately it seemed that the car spent more time in the driveway with it's hood up that escorting my family around town. Finally bob and I decided to put an ad in the paper to sell it (no dealership would take it as a trade in), and try to make a few hundred dollars that we could put towards another vehicle (Bob had his eye on a VW Bus). A man came over to look at the car and when Bob opened the back door it literally fell off the hinges. bob tossed the door into the back seat and took $50.00 off the price of the car.