INTRODUCTION

God is very interesting when he tells us to do something because many times it does not make sense to us at the time. Back in 1994, God told us to buy a car and I didn’t listen at first. See what happened.

GOD, THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE TRACER

It was a point in 1994 and we had issues with out Ford Escort and we were in need of a new car. It was tax return time and we had $1,500 to spend on this new car. At this time, I had communicated my need to my grandfather and the elders of my church. Now, I was still new to being a Christian, but I knew that I wanted what God was telling me.

My grandfather decided to go down to a local dealer that he has dealt with and talk to him on our behalf. The result of this was a deal on a brand new Mercury Tracer. It was basically the Mercury version of an Escort with a wagon back instead of a hatchback. The way the deal would work was that we would put down $1,500 and then pay a monthly payment that I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was in the $200 range say like $250.

Another option opened up to us. An elder of our church had a 1979 Pontiac Lemans car that he had done a bunch of work on. It ran well, but did burn oil. It was a large car and would easily fit my family and he was offering this car for the low low price of $1,500, the exact price that I had from my tax return.

I prayed about what to do and I did hear God tell me to buy the Lemans. However, I really wanted a new car and not a car that was fifteen years old. In fact, I wanted this so much that I convinced myself that God would want me to get the new car, after all why would he want me to have a used car.

To get the Tracer, we had to get to Northern New Jersey from upstate New York. This was a six to seven hour drive, and I knew my Escort would not handle it. Eventually, I got a ride to Albany NY and my grandfather drove up and met us there. This made it a shorter drive for each one. We arrived back at my grandfather’s house on Tuesday and were excited about the car in the driveway. We spent a little time visiting and then returned home, yes the six to seven hour drive back home.

That Saturday, we drove the three hours down to my in-laws in order to show off the new car. We decided to go to lunch with my sister in law at Ponderosa. While inside the restaurant, we discussed moving the baby car seat from the center of the back seat to right behind the drive to give my sister in law more space. However, as we exited the restaurant it began to rain, and God made us forget about doing just that. The reason would be evident in a moment.

We were driving around looking for a Christian bookstore that we later discovered was just barely wider then the door. So, we could not find it. While looking, I had turned around and came upon an intersection that I still to this day believe that the light was green. However, all the witnesses said it was red. Anyway, I went through the light and was hit hard on the driver’s side by an old Chevy pickup truck. We were pushed almost completely out of the intersection before stopping.

At this point, I had the presence of mind to shut off the car. My wife on the other hand freaked out and immediately looked back to see our little girl with a face full of glass. Furthermore, the front bumper of the pickup truck was just touching the side of the car seat. Let me make this picture clear, there was nothing left of the seat directly behind the driver and if we had moved the car seat, our little girl would have been destroyed by the front bumper of the pickup truck. I have no doubt in my mind that God was protecting my family. Furthermore, while my little girl’s face was full of glass pieces, she did not swallow any or had any cuts from it. Again, this was God protecting my family.

After the dust settled and the insurance came out, the decision was to totally the car. This was not surprising because we had been hit with such force that the frame was bent and that was very bad. Since we did not have very many miles on the car (like 380 total), our insurance company at the time gave us back the full price of the car which included our $1,500 down payment.

Armed with new money, my grandfather had offered to get us another deal; however, this time I decided it would be best to follow what God had told me to do in the beginning. I went back and bought the 1979 Pontiac Lemans from the elder. Now, just so that everyone understands why this was the case, in a couple of months Vicky would discover she was pregnant again which meant she could not return to work as planned which meant our finances would not have supported the car payment. God knew what he was doing when he told us this, but I didn’t listen.

One other point I want to make, I am not saying in any way that God had us crash the car. I believe that came as a direct result of walking outside of God’s will. The reason is that when we walk in God’s will, we walk with his blessings and protection. However, when we go outside of his perfect will, then we open ourselves up to possible attacks from the enemy. I firmly believe that if that day I was driving the Lemans, there would not have been an accident because I would have been under the protection of God to prevent something that the enemy meant for harm. However, even within what the enemy meant for harm of my family, God was there. My little girl is alive today because God protected her. We survived having a second child at that time financially because we got back the entire price of the car something that even our insurance agent suggested would not happen.

SCRIPTURE

When God tells us to do something it is for our benefit. He tells us over and over again to trust him and that he works all thing for our good to give us a future and a hope. Therefore, when he speaks, we should listen and obey.

The crash was meant for evil, but God did some cool things to make it for good like saving my daughter and returning to us all the money we spent. God is truly awesome.

CONCLUSION

I want to encourage everyone to walk in the perfect will of God. And if by some chance you are not, come back to him. He is a very loving and forgiving God. However, he is also a gentleman and will let you walk your own way if that is really what you want. However, who doesn’t walk in this life with the creator of the universe blessing and protecting them.

Until Next Time,

I want to thank the great guys over at My Life Ministries (http://mylifeministries.org/) for encouraging me and hosting this blog. If you haven’t done so yet, hop over to http://mylifeministries.org/ and take a look around. Join the forums and become part of the family.

Also, if you have a testimony, email it to me at testify {at} fireknights {dot} net. I would love to hear it and I may just post it here on the blog.

INTRODUCTION

Sometimes God shows up in the strangest places, well strange to us. We had been praying for financial breakthrough and God helped us out through of all places the Internal Revenue Service.

GOD AND THE IRS

Every year, we figure out our taxes and come up with a number for our return. And every year up until this year, we always missed something and wind up taking home much less then we had figured. It had gotten so bad that I began to half the figure we would come up with so as to not be disappointed when we actually had our taxes done. However, this year was to be different.

Before I explain what had happened, allow me to take a second and explain how we got where we were. At the beginning of this year, the pastor of our church challenged the church to consecrate ourselves before God at the beginning of the year like Daniel had done in Daniel chapter 10. The reason was to start the year off right and to allow God to work on our behalf like the angel that was sent to Daniel. So, my wife and I decided to do this. As a direct result, God moved in our finances.

After receiving all of our W-2s, we prayed to God. We asked him that he clear the way at the tax service place so that we would not have to wait in line (because we had a prayer meeting to go to at the church) and that God would supernaturally give us a bigger refund then we were expecting. Then we got in the car and headed to the tax service place. As we entered the building, we were greeted by a lady who was ready to help us. We praised God and told the lady that we had prayed about there not being a line. She looked at us like we were from Mars, but that was ok.

I did tell her that we prayed for God to intervene and give us a bigger refund then we were expecting. This time she was more used to us talking about God and just gave us a blank stare. Then she took our information and began to run through the program. After a while she looked at us and told us that she was not sure what figure we were expected, but she had our refund amount calculated. The figure she told us was more then double the figure we came up with at home. More then double the figure. More then double the figure. She then explained that we qualified for some deduction somewhere that gave us back a bunch more money out of what we had paid to the IRS. We immediately praised God.

SCRIPTURE

When you give to God, he gives back to you. We have been faithful tithers and have been faithful to give when God has told us to. When we do that, God gives back to us good measure pressed down, shaking together and running over.

CONCLUSION

By standing on God’s word, you can be assured that he will take care of you. Live the Living Word.

Until Next Time,

I want to thank the great guys over at My Life Ministries (http://mylifeministries.org/) for encouraging me and hosting this blog. If you haven’t done so yet, hop over to http://mylifeministries.org/ and take a look around. Join the forums and become part of the family.

Also, if you have a testimony, email it to me at testify {at} fireknights {dot} net. I would love to hear it and I may just post it here on the blog.