God Is In The Used Car Business

In May of 2002, and my wife Merideth and I were in a strange situation, and about to do something crazy.  

We were leaving our beautiful home, and a wonderful life in Tallahassee Florida to move to downtown Chicago so I could go to seminary.  And on top of that, we had to sell our house and my car—by the end of June. 

We did, in fact, find a buyer for our house—unexpectedly and right on time.  The sale of the house closed right at the end of June, precisely when we needed it, and on the very day that we drove away in our rented moving truck with all our worldly goods inside it.  

And my car—wait until you read this.  I had resigned myself to the fact that the sale of the car wasn’t going to happen while I was still in Florida and I’d made arrangements to leave it with a friend to keep it on the market.  

ONE WEEK to the day we left, we were holding a garage sale, and a guy approached me about the car, and asked if it was for sale.  He ended up buying it on the spot.  So I got to drive my car all the way up to the 11th hour—right before we moved.  

I’m writing today’s devotion a bit later than usual today because I am in a car dealership selling my car.  In a little less than a week we’ll be driving away to Austin, TX and I was thinking that my car wasn’t going to sell before then—or at the very least I was going to end up selling it at a tremendous loss. 

So, I ended up getting the best price I’ve been offered by anyone, and sold the car with less than one week to go.  

Fourteen years after that epic move to Chicago, we find ourselves in a very familiar situation: Praising God for God’s timing and God’s Providence.  

Merideth and I never ceased to be amazed at the many ways God just keeps reminding us that God is ordering our steps, going before us, telling us time and time again that we are God’s and as long as we keep stepping, God will keep blowing our minds with God’s faithfulness.  

The verse of the day in my YouVersion Bible app was from 1 Corinthians 15:57 which reads, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  

May your eyes be opened today to see all the ways God is guiding you, covering you in grace, sustaining you even in times of uncertainty.  May your ears be opened to hear God’s voice offering you encouragement, grace and love.  And may your heart be ever softened to be moved to obedience that leads to abundant life. 

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.