An Instructional Moment
This post may seem a little unbelievable, and more unbelievable to those who do not believe that the Holy Spirit guides us, teaches us, and helps us develop a closer relationship with Jehovah Ro’i (God the Shepherd).
I had trouble writing about this because how can I prove that this had anything to do with the Holy Spirit, who would believe such an event was nothing more than good luck, self-talk, or just coincidence? Nevertheless, a thought kept pestering me to author the story no matter if it is believable or not. So, two weeks after struggling with what to do, I decided to write this before I left for a trip to the mountains for some photography of fall foliage and waterfalls. I am certain that there is another lesson to be learned concerning trust and obedience.
Several weeks ago, I took my vehicle in for service. It was a normal day, and I decided to wait while the vehicle was serviced. About three hours later I was informed that my vehicle was ready for pick up. I packed up my iPad and proceeded to the service writer’s desk. He went to bring the vehicle to the pick-up area. He returned and we began the checkout process. Suddenly, he went running out to the waiting vehicle and I decided to sit outside and watch. The service writer, the service manager, another individual I did not know, were out there looking at my vehicle and another in front of it. While I watched all this taking place I was like “Ok what is the Lord up to?” About a few moments later all the service writer, service manager and two other people came over to me and began apologizing. I asked them what happened, and the service writer told me that he left my vehicle in natural, and it costed forward and ran into the vehicle in front of mine. I said OK why are all of you telling me about this? How much damage, if any, was done? The service manager informed me that there was a slight dent on my vehicle and that they would repair that and not charge me for this service visit and the next one. I told him he did not need to not charge me for service, just fix the damage and were good to go. He was adamant about taking care of the damage. I said OK if you insist. What happened next was the dealer provided a rental vehicle while mine was being repaired.
While I drove home a thought struck me: This thought was—you have a demanding time accepting a blessing and trusting and relying on the Lord. I told my wife and she looked at me and asked when I was going to learn to accept what the Lord had arranged. I thought about this and prayed that I obey and accept the gift.
A week when I was informed that the vehicle was ready for pickup. I drove the rental to the dealership’s service area and went to settle things with the service writer. While I was there, I told the service writer that I needed to have the car’s plugs changed and that one of the items on the repair list was not corrected. The next week I returned the vehicle to have the engine tuned and the remaining item repaired. About four hours later I was informed that the vehicle was ready for pick-up. I proceeded to the service desk to settle the bill. When I arrived, the service writer went over everything with me and said there was no charge. I couldn’t believe it, but I also knew I was not to argue. The vehicle was checked and the one item that was to be repaired still had an issue, so the service writer took the vehicle back to the mechanic and corrected the problem.
All told, the two service visits with all that was repaired, the rental, and the front of the vehicle repaired was well over 1400.00. What a gift—right? Well, it’s not particularly simple because this was more than a gift, this was a teaching or Shepherding moment for me. What I learned was to sit back and watch the Lord work on my behalf so I can learn to trust Him. Lesson learned: Not to worry or fret, just to trust and rely fully on the Lord to take care of me no matter what the difficulty. This also taught me that no matter what problem (sin) still lingers in my life that if I trust in, lean on, rely on, and always have confidence in Him that He will intercede and strengthen me to overcome any problem (sin) I face.
I mentioned to the service writer that if any of repairs was taken out of his salary that I would compensate him. It’s not about the amount of the repair; I am able to pay whatever the repair amount came to. This was a shepherding event where this sheep (me) was to stay with the Lord and watch what happens if all trust is placed on Him. Too many people today believe with their minds and never allow the Lord into their heart. They trust themselves more than trusting anything the Lord has said. You know what? mentioning that I would compensate the service writer went against what was being taught and at that moment I stopped trusting the Lord. Of course, all that was delt with since there was nothing to be gained by my offer. Our Lord had all sides under His control and at this moment I realized the complexity of the situation because there was another person involved with all of this as well–the person my roving car bumped into. There were a lot more people involved in this event and only the Lord was able to work all things for to good to those who love Him.
You see, asking for forgiveness is not simply saying forgive me, I’m sorry, I’m a loser, a rotten person, etc… It is saying Lord I have a problem that is not pleasing to you and me; please help me overcome this problem; I fully trust, rely on, and cling to you, so I am strengthened to get rid of this problem (sin). Once you begin to fully trust, cling to, and rely of the Lord Jesus to intercede on your behalf, the problem (sin) is overcome.
I have taken this vehicle event as a firsthand witness of how the Lord can take care of us even in the most trying times–as long as we believe (trust in, lean on, rely on, and always have confidence in Him) to intercede on our behalf.
“The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
Michael.
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