I OWE EVERYTHING TO HIM

I am sitting in the Wednesday evening prayer meeting.

I had opened my Bible when Pastor was reading the Word and it is still open on my lap. Now he is preaching and although it may seem that I am listening intently, my thoughts are far away...

I am, in fact, thinking about a car - a white car - a little white Ford Laser Dash that I went to test drive that afternoon.

I inherited my Nissan pick-up from my Dad. In fact, it is the very same vehicle in which my father died as a result of a heart attack, as he was pulling away from  a stop street. Although the pick-up has sentimental value for me, and is very handy to transport all and sunder, it is no longer a reliable vehicle and needs to be replaced.

Being a single mom with school-going children, major expenditures are matters causing stress, even after careful consideration and being the average female I am not very knowledgeable about motor vehicles.

Thus, on this Wednesday evening, the decision whether to buy that white car is a very important one to make and weighs heavily on my mind, which keeps wandering... Disturbed my my thoughts, I inadvertently close the Bible on my lap...

When I look up I am startled to find the pastor looking at me and I realise he knows that my attention is not focused on the Word being imparted to us... I quickly open the Bible randomly and try very hard to pay attention to my immediate surroundings...

My mind is drifting again...

Is the white Ford a reliable car?  It certainly looks good...it sounds good...it is easier to handle than the pick-up...it will use less fuel that the pick-up...it may even be cheaper to maintain.  Will I be able to afford the instalments every month for three years? It seems an awfully long time...what if unforeseen expenses should suddenly occur? Who will I turn to if I experience financial problems?

Anxiety floods my mind. Is anyone able to read my troubled thoughts? I look down and the following words jump up at me from the pages of my open Bible:

       "...I will repay - not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides." Phil. verse
        19.

Words from the Word? Truly? How come I had never noticed them before? What a marvellous God to know the exact answer I needed to hear.

Thank you, Lord, that you know our thoughts...even when they are drifting in the prayer meeting...and that You are always ready to meet us at the point of our need.

1999

(Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)