Friday, May 7, 2010

God's Provision: Ain't no joke!

The doorbell rang a little bit ago. A young couple stood on our porch. "Hi," the young man said. "I'm the guy that wants to buy your car. I've got the cash with me."

I'm pretty sure my mouth fell open as I stared at him.

You see, just yesterday hubby and I were convinced no one would buy the piece of junk, er, used car that belonged to our oldest son. It's a 1989 Nissan 240SX with issues. Lots of expensive issues. Not exactly a car people are clamoring to drive off in! We'd only had a few responses to our ad. A kid came out to see it yesterday, but his mechanic told him it would cost a pretty penny to fix all that needed fixing. Uh-huh. That's why we were selling it. No pretty pennies here.

When I told hubby we lost the buyer yesterday, he was pretty discouraged.

"We'll probably just have to let the city haul it away," he texted.

"Nah," I texted back. "They'd charge us! Just keep praying for a buyer!"

And I meant that! Keep praying. That's all we could do. In my prayers this morning, I reminded God about the car.

"Lord, we need a buyer for it. We need a person who doesn't care that it needs a lot of work. Someone who is going to fix it up themselves. Send us that buyer!"

Well, back up about a month ago. My youngest son was out mowing the yard--yes, I know that is a miracle in itself!!--when a young man stopped by and asked about the car. It was parked on the street, in the same spot where my oldest son left it the day we learned it was going to take $1400 to fix the valves. The young man said he'd take it for $1500!! My son got the guy's phone number and hubby called him as soon as he got home. The man really wanted it, he said. Great, hubby said!

Then...

Nothing.

We didn't hear from the guy again. He didn't come back for the car. We were pretty bummed. Hubby decided to put it on Craig's List, but it took him a couple weeks to actually do it. Finally, last weekend he got it listed. He received a few emails and a text, but only the one kid was legit and he ended up not taking it.

Then...

We prayed.

And something happened!!

The original guy showed up on my doorstep! He had cash in his hand!! We signed the title, gave him the key, and he drove off in the car.

And they lived happily ever after!

THE END!

But it's not really the end. It's one more story of God's provision! My life is filled with such stories and I know this won't be the last. A few days ago I marveled as I read in 1 Kings 4:1-7 about the Widow's Oil. A widow was about to lose her two sons to her dead husband's creditors. The prophet Elisha asks her what she has in her house. "Nothing...except a little oil." Elisha tells the widow to go ask all her neighbors for containers. Big containers. Small containers. Any containers! And as many as she can get. When she gets home, she starts filling the containers from the little bit of oil she had. Every single container is filled to the brim. When her son tells her there are no more containers, that's when the oil runs out. Elisha tells her to sell the oil and save her sons.

Talk about God's provision!

There is no doubt in my mind: God cares about us! He knows us by name, He hears our prayers, and He will provide for all our needs!!

4 comments:

Beth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beth said...

Yeah for God providing the buyer---the right buyer at the right time---His timing! I bet that kid will love having a project car to fix up! I have been learning to wait for His timing. I don't always like to wait, ok, I NEVER like to wait! But, God's timing is perfect, I am learing!
(deleted and reposted to fix typos....a teacher can't have those!)

Michelle Shocklee said...

Thanks Beth!! No, waiting isn't easy, but God absolutely does have a plan!!

PS: I know what you mean about typos! A writer canNOT have 'em either! =) Which is why I hate texting! I always have typos!!!

Anita said...

I love this story! The Lord always provides.
Happy Mother's Day!