Still Today God So Loves Man IV

Still Today God So Loves Man (Our Provider)

Abiding in the Lord and having fellowship with Him brings the confidence (faith) that we need to please Him.  Abiding in His Word also builds that confidence.  You begin to expect to see the Lord get involved in what you are going through.  It is that awareness and fellowship with the Lord that is so wonderful and attractive to the child of God.   When we are living in fellowship with God and we go through hard times, we live in anticipation of the working of God and the Holy Spirit in our difficult situations.  You know, there isn’t anyone that wouldn’t love to have this kind of fellowship with God when things are not going so well.  But, when things are going great we have a tendency to get distracted by the world and lose sight of God.  The temptations of this world never cease to pull on us, especially when things are going good in our lives.  Believe me there is nothing in this world that is worth more than having fellowship with God!

Often, as we go through life there are times when we need a Provider. It is so wonderful to have someone who cares for us without fail, especially when they have all the resources in the universe at their disposal.  I want to share one of those times when my wife and I needed help and God was there ready to lift us up and provide beyond what we could have ever known.

A few years ago we were just leaving a couples retreat on the coast of Oregon and we were only a few miles out of town when all of the sudden the engine in the van made some noise and just died.  I noticed just moments before it died that the oil light came on.  I pulled over as quickly as I could and tried to start the engine, but it failed and didn’t sound too good.  We were over 150 miles from home and in the middle of nowhere.  Because I have worked on engines over the years I knew that it was very serious.  We had a cell phone so we called in for a tow truck and had to wait what seemed like forever before the tow truck arrived.  But just after we called the tow truck we began to pray and I remember saying to the Lord, “Lord I don’t know why this is happening but please Lord be glorified in this.  I don’t know how but I want you to receive the glory”.

It was a long wait for the tow truck and the only place he could take us was to Astoria.  When we got to Astoria we were told that the oil pump went out and the engine was totaled because it couldn’t get any oil. While we were waiting to hear from the Toyota dealership on what could be done we called our kids and asked them to come get us and take us home.  It was a long long day but we tried very hard to not complain or fall apart.  While we were waiting we were told that our engine was part of a recall so they were to going to contact Toyota on Monday to see what to do.  Some of the engines were missing a hole in the block that caused the oil to build up sludge around the pump.  But that recall was a long time before and we had over 200,000 miles on the van without any problems.

On Monday Toyota gave them approval to disassemble and inspect the engine.  Several days went by and I did not hear from the dealership so I called and they said they were trying to get parts for the repair.  We were still making payments on the van and could not afford to pay very much but I was afraid to ask how much this was going to cost.  

After nearly two weeks I got a call from the dealership and they said the van was ready to pick up.  I asked why it took so long.  I was told they had to locate and get parts from different countries and have them shipped to the US.  Again I was afraid to ask how much.

When we got to the dealership the service manager came up to me with a very large stack of paper and told me he needed my signature.  I began to flip through this huge invoice with hundreds of parts and thousands of dollars.  My heart nearly stopped.  The service manager said, “I’ve never seen one this big”, with a smile on his face as he flipped to the last page.  He said, “Just sign right here so I don’t have to pay this invoice”.  I looked down and it said Balance owed $0.00.  I can still hardly hold back the tears as I write this.  There are no words good enough to express how wonderful our God is.  I know He was looking down at me as I read over that invoice and was excited to see me as I read that bottom line.

Someday very very soon we will stand before the Father, as the books are opened and as He flips through the pages, He will get to the last page and say, “Ah…PAID IN FULL”!

Ken Wyatt