My Provider
I’ve had quite the handful of car problems over the past couple of years, and every time I’m stressed about the expense, coverage for getting to work, etc. So it’s no surprise that my first reaction to the most recent car issue, that came the weekend before Christmas mind you, is stress and frustration.
“Please let it be something inexpensive. How on earth can I pay for this otherwise?”
“Why couldn’t this happen after Christmas when I get paid next?”
“Why did it have to happen at all?”
As quickly as snapping, I felt peace. It didn’t make sense, but that’s why they call it the peace that passes all understanding.
I got a Lyft home after getting my car towed to the body shop the following Monday, and on the way, my driver and I got to talking. We found out that one another was a Christian and the last thing he said to me before I got out of the car was, “You know, I don’t want this car thing to stress you out at all. You know that God’s gonna take care of you, and that means he knew this would happen when it did. Don’t you let this stress you out, and have a Merry Christmas.” As quickly as snapping, I felt peace. It didn’t make sense, but that’s why they call it the peace that passes all understanding. Over the next few days, I would stress out of habit but the Holy Spirit would remind me that it’s going to be okay, and it won’t be expensive (that’s always the biggest stressor). A couple of days later I got a call that the shop could clean up the part for less than $200, but if that didn’t fix it and they had to replace the part, it would cost at least $800. I didn’t have $800, so I was hoping for the $200 clean-up job. The Holy Spirit kept assuring me it would be what I wanted.
I still struggled with it, though. It’s uncomfortable to claim what you want just because you want it - it feels naively arrogant. But claiming something because God keeps repeating it to you isn’t arrogance, it’s faith. Sure enough, I get the call earlier today that my car was ready to pick up. I knew that meant they didn’t have to order the part, but I asked the man to confirm the cost with me just in case and I heard him quote $186.
Whew, what I was expecting. It wasn’t a great cost because it was still an unexpected $186, but at least I knew the money would be in my account and I could still get groceries and gas - a blessing in and of itself, so I wasn’t going to complain.
I get to the shop and they ring me up for $106. Even less than what they said and insanely inexpensive in my opinion for a multi-day car repair. Not only did God take care of making sure the repair was the less expensive option, but it was even cheaper than what I was originally quoted.
Now, off to get that oil change I need….