From Obstacle to Opportunity

I like old trucks.  In the 80’s I drove trucks that were made in the 60’s and 70’s.  Now I drive a truck that was made in the 80’s.  There are several reasons for this but that isn’t the point of today’s Daily Encouragement.

There are some disadvantages of driving older vehicles though: one of them is that something will occasionally malfunction and sometimes in rather inconvenient times and places.

Recently I had a mechanic in a large shop replace the clutch on my old truck.  I haven’t had it very long so I asked him to do an inspection as well.  I specifically asked him to look at the brakes.

An “Evil Report”
The report was daunting: “They are all rotten and need to be completely rebuilt.”  However, some of the information he gave me seemed a little suspect.  Since I wasn’t going to have the work done immediately anyway, I called a mechanic friend of mine and asked him if he would help me with them.  He agreed so we picked a day to do the work.

The truck seems to run fine and it didn’t have any problem stopping so, when the big day arrived, I ran an errand and then stopped at the parts store.  The parts store told me the parts would be in around noon.  When I arrived at about 12:05 I was informed that they wouldn’t be there till around 4:00 PM.

I bought a few things and then left the store to go to my mechanic friend.

The “Attack!”
In the parking lot, I tried to start the truck.  It made a terrible grinding noise that I don’t remember hearing before so I called my friend.  He was very understanding.  He made the 25-minute journey to the parts store and had me going in less than 5 minutes.   The starter had “suddenly” malfunctioned.  Since I was at the parts store I picked up a new starter and we were on our way.

So here is the moral of the story.

From “Obstacle to Opportunity”
While I was waiting for my friend I thought I would make use of the time.  I was praying about various things and then noticed that another 5 fold minister that I follow had just put out a short video about God turning problems into opportunities: How God will turn things around, that may appear daunting, for His glory.

This is a concept I am well acquainted with but need to practice more.  It involves resting and abiding in Yeshua ALL the time; not just when things seem to be going well.

As I was waiting for my friend I took the reminder to heart and waited to see what God had in store.

Upon arrival, it took my friend about 3 minutes to determine that the starter had malfunctioned and then it took us another couple of minutes to get it going.  That was a relief and so then I thought; “well, if the starter is going to suddenly go bad then this would be the place to do it”.

I was glad that the problem wasn’t worse but I wasn’t particularly thrilled because starters for my last truck were $150.00.  So I was quite pleased when I went back in the parts store and the clerk said that this one was $50.00.

“The enemy subdued”
Back at my friend’s house, I was prepared for work when his son began doing most of the work.  We checked all of the brakes and there was absolutely nothing wrong with any of them.  We replaced the starter, he looked over the engine and told me that it appeared to be in pretty good shape.

God’s Blessings
I ran a couple of errands on the way back home and even started it again once I arrived.  The truck started like a new one every time.  The consistent momentary lag at startup that  I had experienced since owning the vehicle was gone.  What I had thought was just the nature of the beast was actually the starter.  It now starts like a new one.

Did God wait to arrange for my starter to go out while I was sitting at a parts store with someone pre-arranged to already help me work on my vehicle anyway?  Why was I told by the mechanic that my brakes needed to be completely rebuilt but really needed nothing at all?

Along with all of these things, my friend was recently given about 1,000 really good DVD’s and so he told me to take my pick of them.

I left his house with no charge for the work and several really good, Bible-based DVD’s.

What a blessed reminder this was for me to not embrace evil reports and to wait upon the Lord to be renewed.

They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31   

Blessings in Yeshua, 
Parson Rayphe
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