The New Battery

Early on in our marriage, I went to start our car only to discover that the battery was dead. The temperatures were subzero and it was not a good day to work on a car outside. I lifted up the hood of the car and jiggled the wires hoping to pull off a miracle.

When I tried a second time to start the car, the infant car seat was too close to the steering wheel so I gave it a shove and as I did, it took a chunk out of the dashboard due to the extremely cold weather. I realize that today as I write this some of you may not remember when we used to put the car seats in the front next to the driver so that they could quickly give a pacifier to the crying infant.

To say that I was upset at this new opportunity to trust God is the understatement of the year. Instead, I responded with frustration. I went outside of the car and slammed the hood shut; or I should say that I attempted to slam the hood shut. When I did, because of the cold weather, the hood springs and hinges froze and the hood folded in half leaving a huge crease in the top of the hood in my otherwise mint-condition car.

I remember that my next action step was to go inside the house and “share” (rant) what was wrong with the car to Cathy. Her response was for me to go to the auto store and purchase a new battery. I reacted to her answer with sarcasm and cynicism; ranting that “OK, I’ll purchase the new battery with a check because you believe that somehow God will provide the funds so that the check won’t bounce! But, how will I get to the store since the car won’t start?”

Just as I finished spouting my lack of faith, the doorbell rang. It was Sue, a friend of ours from church. “I noticed that your hood was up on your car and stopped to see if you needed a ride on this cold day”; she said wondering what she had just walked into.

I, in great faith, explained our situation and sarcastically explained that we were going to trust God for provision!”

“Take my car”; she said to us, “And go get the battery; I’ll sit here and drink tea with Cathy and the baby.”

I drove her car to the auto store, grumbling under my breath and purchased a new battery still wondering how we would come up with the funds to cover the check I had just written for just under forty dollars.

I wish that I could have been a man of faith so that my part in this story would have been much better to tell. But, throughout so many of the times when the Lord provided in our lives He was the one who responded faithfully; I, oftentimes was learning to trust Him as we went through the struggle.

I arrived home and in the extreme cold removed and replaced the battery. I got into the car and turned the ignition key. The car started up the first time with no hesitation. To cool off before I went into the house, I spent some time bending the hood back into place so that the hood could close. The chunk in the dashboard would have to be another time.

I went inside the house we were renting and thanked Sue for the use of her car and went to see if the mail had arrived yet. In the mail there was a check for forty-four dollars and forty four cents from an insurance company. I called the company to see why they sent me the check. It was from an insurance claim that I had made a few years earlier due to a work-related injury. The insurance company explained that they had not paid me what I was entitled to and the check was the remaining balance on the claim.

Because of the strange amount, I noticed that the check not only covered the cost of the new battery (just under forty dollars), but also the tithe on the check (around four dollars). God had provided for us; He had covered the check with extra money!

Now, I realize that the check had been in the mail for a few days and didn’t miraculously come from the insurance company just as the Lord heard my faithless prayer for provision.

But for me, if I couldn’t see His provision in this situation, I would be hard pressed to believe Him for larger items like (many) new vehicles, appliances, remodeling, employment, additional children (and grandchildren!), and a new house.

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:31-34 NKJV)

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.