When God uses a used van to speak truth.
I have some good news! I feel like most of the time I have good news. And God has certainly called me to a LIFE of bearing witness to his glory and broadcasting it as best I can. Often, I find that I’m digging through a mess to find the miracle and it is very tricky to tell one without the other. In fact, miracles are born of a marriage between hope and struggle… and that’s exactly where Nyasia was sitting when I met her.
Nyasia is a young mom of 3. Her vehicle broke down before Christmas and her caseworker requested assistance with car repairs. Once we had her car looked at, it was obvious that repairs would cost more than the car was worth. So WE PRAYED, I bought her some groceries, and I KEPT praying! I don’t know what I expected God to do, but I was NOT expecting the message I got later that evening. “We have a van to donate. Do you know anyone who needs a vehicle?” I would love to report that we immediately gave away that van and all was well with the world… but as always, it was a lot more complicated than that.
Over the next few weeks we worked hard to get insurance lined up, minor repairs on the new van taken care of, the tax forms filled out, proper car seats for the kids provided and the title transferred. At every turn, discouragement was building for Nyasia. Every hiccup was a trigger for her and the overwhelming feeling she kept expressing was “nothing ever goes right for me.” “I knew that nothing this good could happen for me”… and I found myself encouraging her in prayer and lending her my faith. In the end, there was a process , but she DID receive a van!
But more than that, she saw some evidence that supported a different narrative for her life. She can never again say “Nothing good happens”!!! We didn’t just replace her broken vehicle with a newer one! The Lord replaced that broken record playing in her mind with a NEW one that said
“ God came through...I am loved and blessed.”
Can I just take a moment and remind you that YOU are loves and blessed! I think we can all relate to moments of discouragement, maybe even despair, when it seems like “things never work out”… but turning our hearts toward the Lord always reveals the TRUTH that HE COMES THROUGH! Sometimes we are tempted to look a little too closely at the “process” and draw a faulty conclusion. In the words of my pastor, Tom Baxter, “Don’t let the problems of today limit the possibilities of tomorrow!” Let’s resolve to look past and through and over and around the speed bumps …forward to the promises of God.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~Jeremiah 29:11
God has a beautiful, prosperous, hope filled future planned for each of us… and can I go so far as to say that one of the BEST ways to engage your hope is to put yourself in a position to watch God’s plan for others unfold! As we serve those in crisis, OUR FAITH is increased. As we build up experience after experience where GOD CAME THROUGH, that record begins to skip in our thoughts and hope blooms!
Comments