One
of my favourite stories teaches a great lesson. I'll tell the story first then we can draw
out the lesson together at the end. A hint: it has to do with our mistakes and how God can
smooth them over beautifully.
Mum and Dad have
come to my rescue twice now, with a car to get around in. A lot of single mums in my
situation didn't have cars and I really appreciated it. Without money, though, it's
hard to properly maintain a car, and I was always reticent to trust my car into the hands
of money-grabbing mechanics. Some were honest, but which ones?
For some time, I
knew my car was in trouble. I had to keep filling the radiator with water every day
- always a bad sign. Day after day I put off the inevitable. One night I was driving
home from a children's tap-dancing concert we'd been invited to, and I was travelling
along a road I didn't usually use. At one stage I looked up and read: "Beverley,
Auto Repairs!" That's how I heard it in my head, with the emphasis, comma and
exclamation mark. It sounded like a reminder call. What it said really was
'Beverley Auto Repairs' - it was an Auto Repair Shop in the suburb of Beverley.
I have a love/hate
relationship with this sort of thing. I love it because God speaks to me in these
crazy/funny ways sometimes and it is always fun and helpful. On the other hand I hate it
momentarily because I am scared maybe I'm a nut! That reminds me, this story has a
really good bit in it where God reassures me I am not a nut, so read on!
I had a bit of a
struggle with this one. Should I take it as a push from God and get the car looked
at? If so, where should I take it? Logically, I should get the car looked at
anyway. But if I took it to Beverley Auto Repairs that would seem silly -
superstitious even. It was over the other side of the city!
I was often in a
dilemma in those days. I had little money and was still short on energy because of
emotional burnout, which affected my powers of decision making. Ever thoughtful, God
didn't leave me to my own resources on this one, either.
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