We tried several time to give up on our 1999 Honda Accord. It wasn’t that we didn’t like the car. We did! We’d driven it off the lot, brand-spanking new. The first time hubby got the new car instead of me. He drove it for 8 years, then it became “the kid car.” First our daughter drove it. Then our son. Then we sent it to college with our daughter after she’d been without a car for a year. Two years later, it broke down on the highway, cost us a boatload to get it home, and still needed work! We put our youngest in it for his mile drive to school during his senior year, but didn’t trust it beyond that. As more and more it sat in front of our house, we talked about what to do with it.
Give it away, we decided. But one thing let to another and we never called any of those car donation places to pick it up.
Sell it, my husband said. The boys wrote “For Sale” and our phone number on the windows. 24 hours later, the words were gone due to a quick, hard rain. They never got around to redoing it.
Then a friend told us about a mechanic in the next town. Reasonable, he said. We decided to give it one last shot, in spite of the fact that 2 mechanics had already given their opinion that it wasn’t worth the money that would need to be put into it to get it running right again.
Friday we picked up the car, paid a fraction of what we’d been told it would cost. A fraction of what it would have cost to replace it with a car of similar make and model and mileage. Saturday, my son drove it on the highway (it hadn’t been able to go more than about 40mph) across town for his job. And it was great!
I thought back over that whole history and realized that in each roadblock to our giving up on this car was God. Looking ahead. Knowing what was coming. Why do we forget that in the moment? We look at the trees and forget there is a forest–that we have a God who sees the end from the beginning and has us on a path of His making. I’ve long believed that when we are seeking God’s wisdom in all that we do, like we are admonished to do in both Proverbs 3:5-6 and Matthew 6:33, He truly does direct our paths and give us what we need. And sometimes God’s direction comes by way of blockades that keep us from moving ahead on a path that seems prudent.
I’m glad God didn’t let us give up on that car. It will make life easier this fall, for us and for our youngest child. But most of all I’m glad because it has been a tangible reminder to our whole family that God sees. And cares. That when we seek and acknowledge Him, He will direct our paths.
OH my, this is SO good. So often it’s not until I look back that I can see a blockade for the huge blessing it was…I can think of one particular instance, soon after I graduated fro college, when the blockade was huge and glaring and felt like the worst thing in the world at the time. Now I look back and thank God He knew what He was doing, even when I moaned about the whole thing. I want to get better at remembering the big picture and God’s awesome timing and control while I’m IN a season of blockades or red flags rather than just after. 🙂
I know what you mean. I’m working on that myself. I loved how this all happened with the car because will I’ve seen before blockades that kept me from a bad situation, I haven’t really recognized the ones that kept me in a situation that would actually turn out for my good! Doesn’t seem like a big difference, but in my mind it is! 🙂
Looking back at how God orchestrates our lives is always a spine-tingling experience for me. He knows so much better what we need (roadblocks???) and gives back more than we dreamed possible sometimes. So why is it so hard to give him the reins? You’d think that all the head-banging moments would have made it easier, but I’m still a beginner at giving God control.
PS: We had an ’84 custom van that was like your Honda – it had many lives. We finally donated it when it had 220K miles to someone who needed it to drive to work. It lived out its life as a pizza delivery van. We laughed every time we saw it rolling down the street. Our cast-off was someone else’s livelihood – a God thing for sure.
I hear you, Carla! Thankfully He gives us so much grace when our memories are short! I love that about your van. How fun to see it still useful to someone!
I love reading through an article that will make people think.
Also, thank you for permitting me to comment!
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