The Story Box: First Steps of Trust

(I introduced the Story Box a while ago. Over the coming months I hope to encourage your faith by sharing some of the stories that come out of this little box.)

This key is a reminder of our first steps in moving out of our comfort zone in matters of trusting God.

Our philosophy with cars has always been to drive them until they die. The Buick we owned did just that. When it broke down again for the umpteenth time, I left it in the parking lot of a Baptist Church never to return for it. (A friend towed it away for us weeks later.) We didn’t realize at the time but that broken down car was an inciting incident to move us out of our comfort zone Christianity and into our first steps of greater trust.

I remember we had a little bit of money in the bank for the purchase of a used vehicle, but it wasn’t near enough to buy anything close to a road worthy vehicle. At the time someone had given us a few days of their time share in Williamsburg, and other friends had given us the use of a car for the trip. It was one of our first and best vacations. Indoor swimming every evening, historic Williamsburg, the Jamestown area, and playing in the Atlantic on November 1st highlighted the trip.

We returned to real life still needing a car. Visiting area dealerships, searching the classifieds and buying Mountain Trader papers turned up nothing. Days turned into weeks, and one loaned car was turned in for another. At that point we felt certain of two things – we shouldn’t go into debt for the purchase and “Jehovah Jireh” (the Lord will provide). Those two things would be tested over the coming weeks as expectations from others mounted.

A close friend had a nephew working at the Honda dealership and as I recall he encouraged us to go in and “talk to Wayne.” We had priced Hondas already and knew that even a used one was well out of our price range, but one day I stopped by anyway and asked for Wayne. I told him our story and of Jehovah Jireh.

He pointed out a white Dodge Caravan that had recently been traded in…it was still out of our range. Later Diana and I went back to look at it together and felt confident this was the van for us. We prayed, we waited, we resolved not to go into debt, we believed, we re-evaluated our finances. Some extra money had begun to trickle in for the purchase of a vehicle.

I went back to Wayne at the dealership. “I can offer you $1000 dollars less than your asking price.” “I would really like to do that for you” he replied, “but I can’t.” I returned home wondering how much longer it would be on the lot before someone purchased it but not defeated. A few days later we received a gracious gift that pushed us over the top. I called Wayne nervous with excitement to tell him the news. “Jehovah Jireh” were my first words.

Diana and I have often pointed back to the purchase of that van as our first foray into a deeper level of trusting God. Eventually it led into trusting Him for missions support. And daily provisions for two years. Then to trusting Him for living in a foreign culture. Trusting for a home when we returned. Trusting Him to direct our children. Trusting for a job. Trusting for the future. Then trusting for a flow of grace and love to come into our lives and go out to others. And just to think that He used a broken down old car to lead us into this extraordinary journey.