As my car was sputtering down the road, barely moving at the speed of twenty-something miles per hour, I felt unsafe driving. My car was an old Honda, nearly twenty years old. It had been acting strangely for weeks. I must have looked crazy as my car jerked down the street while I passionately proclaimed to God my hopes for Him to rescue me. With an assurance in my voice, I loudly said, “Jesus, You stated in Your Scriptures that all things work together for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purposes. Well, I need a car. So I am expecting You to work this out for my good and provide another car for me.” As those words rolled off my lips, peace fell all over me, and I knew everything would be okay.
Just weeks before my car had started giving me trouble, I’d written a prayer to the Lord professing that I didn’t want to ever doubt Him again. I know that sounds courageous. But I’m not really all that brave. I was simply ready to walk in faith moment-by-moment and see God’s power working in my life in a greater way. For years, I’d been following Christ at all costs, and it’s not easy to do.
During that season, the Lord was taking me to the place of knowing that every good thing in life would be provided by God if I followed Him wholeheartedly and would really, really trust Him. My husband, Michael, and I were determined to obey God’s plan for our lives no matter what challenges we faced. In our determination to stay on God’s path, it was necessary for me to work at jobs that enabled me to help with the home-schooling responsibilities for our daughter and son.
At the time when my car was beginning to malfunction, Michael was without a job and attending college full-time while I worked several different jobs including very late nights and long hours on the weekends for a catering business at an event facility. Even with the catering job, my cleaning jobs, teaching dance on the side, and cutting all our spending to only necessities, we still barely had enough money to keep food on the table, much less money for car repairs.
After the day I’d found the courage to tell Jesus I needed for Him to provide me a better car, my old Honda continued to sporadically act up. I never knew if I would make it to my jobs safely or not. But I just kept praying for the Lord to keep my car running and waiting for Him to provide a new one. I truly knew He would. Just a few weeks later, I received a call from my mother with some sweet news.
In her kind voice, she said, “Amy, I want you to know that the Lord put it on my heart to give you our car since we’re purchasing another one.” The timing was perfect. My mom had no idea that our car was seriously malfunctioning. I had decided not to share those details with her so she wouldn’t be tempted to worry. There wasn’t a reason to tell her because I knew God would handle it. His Holy Spirit whispered in my mother’s ear and shared our need with her at precisely the moment we needed to see God’s hand working in our midst. God’s love was revealed to me in a powerful way through my mom’s generosity, and it’s undeniable that God nudged her to bless me, since she was not aware of my failing vehicle.
God’s timing is always perfect. He never fails us when we place our trust in Him alone.
It’s been years since Jesus provided a reliable car for me when I desperately needed it. He has continued to open doors, provided a new career for my husband, and blessed my family with everything we’ve needed through the years. Even after undeniably seeing miracles in my life, I can be tempted to doubt Christ at times. Life is challenging. When things aren’t going as I had hoped they would, doubtful thoughts tempt me. But now, after watching God’s faithfulness in my life over and over and over again, I continually choose to push out the negative thoughts by focusing on what the Scriptures say. I continually rejoice over the way Jesus comes through for me every single time I need for Him to work on my behalf.
Even though it was years ago when I was in desperate need, I will always believe that being financially broke was a powerful season of spiritual boot camp and necessary for me to learn how to trust God wholeheartedly. Strong faith is developed when we’re in situations that force us to believe God for things we cannot see in the natural realm.
Hebrews 1:1 (Living Bible) says: “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.” When our situation is dire, we can walk in faith and trust Christ to move mountains of problems.
Doubt and self-pity open the door for disappointments. Faith opens the door for the impossible to be unleashed in our lives. The words in Mark 11:22-25 say: “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Are you in need of a miracle? Being in need is the perfect position to see God’s power. It’s not until we let go of things, surrender everything to Christ, and release it all into His hands, that we see His power working abundantly.
Walking by faith is not easy. It takes practice. But I have learned that the only way any of us will truly see God’s power in our lives is by leaving doubt behind forever and choosing to walk by faith and not by sight.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (English Standard Version)
