The photo is absolutely an attention-grabber on purpose. I wrestled with even including a photo for the reason that some people would be immediately turned off thinking this is a post bragging about my new car... or maybe the focus is more on Bella's backside :-). Then, I knew in my spirit I needed to post it for a visual of what I’m about to share with you today.
The title of this blog post and the photo are such small things in comparison to the really big truth and glory that God receives in this article. There are so many things you could be reading right now, many things you could be watching- we live in a day where writers, speakers, and entertainers have to grab your attention in the first few seconds or the message won’t be received.
If you follow my blog, then you may remember before I took the summer off from weekly writings that my last post was entitled, Our House Story. That post went out into the world on June 15th of this year.
These two stories relate to one another in the way that both things are gifts from God. It goes a whole lot deeper than material things- if you didn’t get to read the blog post about our house, I highly recommend you read it after this, or if you’re a consecutive kind of person (like me), go ahead and feel free to read that one first :-).
Here I am, almost 4 months to the day (this is being written on October 19th) writing about Our Car Story. At the beginning of 2023, I had no idea that I would be sharing about a house and a car a few months later. What I did know is that we, (my husband and I) had been praying for, speaking out, praising, and believing for good opportunities to come our way.
What I want us, (yes, me included) to be reminded of right now before we continue on is that God’s goodness is all around. We don’t have to wait until some big thing happens to recognize that.
I walked outside this morning with my cup of coffee and saw the steam rolling off the top of my mug, the sun shining on the dew-covered grass, and my sweet smiling labrador waiting so patiently for me to play. Those things aren’t necessarily big things but they are good things that we have the ability to acknowledge are gifts from God.
I am about to share an entire chapter in the Bible but I need you to read it, please. I want you to have a firm foundation from even just one chapter in the good book about what I’m sharing today. I have highlighted the verses I want you to pay close attention to with bold lettering. Psalm 16 in The Message says,
“Keep me safe, O God, I’ve run for dear life to you. I say to God, “Be my Lord!” Without you, nothing makes sense.
And these God-chosen lives all around— what splendid friends they make!
Don’t just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I’ll never treat god-names like brand-names.
My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I’m your choice! You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!
The wise counsel God gives when I’m awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I’ll stick with God; I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.
I’m happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell— that’s not my destination!
Now you’ve got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way.
In the first verse, I highlighted the phrase, “Without You nothing makes sense”. I firmly believe that without God in this story, it’s a shallow photo without any meaning or significance to your life, or even my life for that matter.
At the end of every day, if I haven’t moved the needle for the kingdom, then what have I really done?
I want to make Jesus attractive. I want my life to be a life that others say is lived well and not merely by the things I have but by the joy that seeps out from my heart and onto others.
At this point in the article, you’re either still with me because you agree with the Word I shared and that God is a giver of good things or you’re very curious how all of this will play out- and, maybe you’re both.
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My Chevy Equinox was in great working order. I’ve been thankful and happy with this car for many years. Bubbling up in my spirit one day were the words, God, I thank you for my new SUV.
What!? I hadn’t been thinking of a new car past the reality that I’ve always liked cars ever since I was a little gal and simply seeing cars on the road that I liked.
Just like with our new house, I began to speak those words out loud every time I would see a Lexus. Never driven a Lexus, but I love the way they look and I’ve heard from family and friends who are Lexus owners what a great car it is.
The Lexus SUV became a vision and reminder for the confession over my new SUV. Just about every single time I would see one, I said out loud, God, I thank you for my new SUV.
I did this for months.
If you went back and read Our House Story blog post, then you know that my vision and confession reminder for the new house was a particular “For Sale” sign in the yard of a property I passed every day on my way out and on the way home.
This is a good place to just pause for a moment and say, if you are believing for something, whether it be a house, a car, a new job, a baby, $100 for your cell phone bill, or whatever it is, have something that you see on a daily basis to remind you to thank God for that thing.
When we thank the Lord, we are praising Him in gratitude and faith for what He has done. We believe that it is so because we are speaking it out and our words do not come back empty. Just as Isaiah prophesied In Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
I had been confessing about this new mystery SUV for months, and the urge in my spirit to sell my current SUV became so strong that I could no longer dismiss the thought.
I wanted to sell privately, so I needed to take pictures and a video but it had rained the day before and the car had water spots on it, so I second-guessed myself about taking the photos, but I just had to do it that day. Not so coincidentally, I had already cleaned the interior of the car a couple days earlier.
I went straight outside and took the photos and video and immediately posted everything to Marketplace. I received an inquiry within the same day but this sale did not pan out.
A couple weeks went by without any further interest in my car. I started to doubt that I really heard God and started to think that it was just me.
I was out with my family one day and the car started making this really loud rattling noise. We were out most of the day and by afternoon, it was incredibly loud. We had gone through a drive-thru for lunch and through the rattling, I could barely hear the person on the other side of the speaker.
That evening, I needed to pick up my sweet Bella from having shots at the vet, so I got in my car to leave. Before I even turned the key, I heard the voice of the Lord tell me to get out of my car and take my mom’s car instead.
Y’all, I sinned- I did not listen. I started out on the road, the rattling sound still crazy loud, and made it to the first red light when my car completely died. I admitted my fault to the Lord and asked for forgiveness for not listening when I knew I heard His voice and prayed that I would make it home safely.
That had to be the longest mile or two mile-drive ever. By His grace, I pulled the car into our driveway safely and switched over to my mom’s car.
The engine would not turn over, so I knew I needed to sell the car as-is and dramatically reduce the list price. I received numerous inquiries after the price dropped. I knew I would need a new car and prayed for the maximum price for my current SUV.
God absolutely answered that prayer and we received an offer that, naturally speaking, I wouldn’t imagine in its condition we would get but the Lord sent the right person who knew how to fix it himself and would be blessing his son with it.
The first miracle.
After we sold my car, I spent weeks, every day and every night on multiple apps and Marketplace searching for cars. I knew what I had been thanking the Lord for even before I knew all of this would happen with my car, so I didn’t want to settle. And, I knew He didn’t want me to settle.
The impact of going from two cars to one car was definitely felt. Our schedules had to shift and we had to plan ahead a lot more. There was a blessing in this, though. We really enjoyed the extra time together as a family in the car! Many times, it’s all about our reaction and our perspective.
There were people who knew what I was looking for and alluded to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to get all the features I wanted in a used car without increasing our budget. We have been out of debt for a few months, minus our house, and we knew we did not want to go into debt for a car.
We kept praying, kept searching, and believing that God had the right car out there. After weeks of seemingly unsuccessful searches, I began to feel discouraged.
My husband asked me if I would be willing to look at a car that wasn’t the exterior color I wanted but had everything else I was looking for. Right when he asked, I wanted to say no because I had been believing for a white car. The Holy Spirit stopped me and I let him send it to me.
It was a very nice car, a little over our budget but definitely had everything I wanted. I was interested enough to go test drive and see it in person.
When I walked up to the car, I could not believe the color of this thing! The photos I’d seen online did not do this car justice. The more I looked at it, the more I liked it. I even began to think, I love this MORE than white!
God knows us better than we know ourselves.
After the test drive, we both really liked the car, and Aubriana said she wanted it :-). But, there was just something that we weren’t settled about. The price was a factor because we knew our budget and we knew we didn’t want to finance.
We were told the business model at the dealership is that they do not negotiate price- it’s an upfront pricing model with the walk-out-the-door price listed and online. The windshield had a small crack and they were willing to fix that for us, but we just couldn’t say yes to the deal.
We went home, and we prayed that in the meantime, no one would be able to buy this car if it were to be our car. After an incredibly busy weekend at the dealership, we found out through our client advisor that several people looked at the car. We decided to go back the next week for a second test drive.
I knew in my spirit we just had to go back in person again. After the next test drive, we knew we still really liked it but we heard something going on with the rear brakes as we drove it around town.
There was a team lead at the dealership who knew a lot about cars and especially German cars as he was originally from Europe. He had owned a BMW in his life and he was able to explain things to us about the car.
This was a huge blessing to hear from someone who could give us great insight into this car and had personal experience. During the test drive, Bryan encouraged me when we got back to the dealership to tell them my story of what happened to our previous SUV and why we were so sensitive to being sure things were sound with our next purchase.
I believe this was a big factor in us getting the car. We asked if they would be willing to fix the rear brakes, and the team lead got that approved for us. Even after that, we still did not feel complete peace about moving forward with the deal.
We left the dealership yet again without a car. We kept our faith, even with feeling the feels of sadness about not getting it, we didn’t let those feelings dictate our speech on the way home- that’s a huge takeaway.
After we got our 6-year-old in bed that night and Bryan had taken Bella outside, I was alone in the closet and completely broke down in tears. With all that I’d been going through with my health (you can read my previous blog post to learn more about this) and the start of the school year being really hard with all the changes, and several other things, I completely let it all out emotionally.
I laid down prostrate on the floor and just cried out to God and prayed. Bryan came back in with Bella and quietly told me that he had a message from the team lead at the dealership.
I immediately sat up, and he held me on the floor with tears streaming down my face and told me that the team lead had talked to the General Manager and said they would reduce the price by $1,000. That is exactly what we needed to make this a cash deal!
Only God, my friend, only God. Second miracle.
They were also including completely new brakes and fixing the windshield. With everything out the door including tax, title, and tags we paid less all together than the original asking price that we were told was firm.
Bryan and I have never paid cash for a vehicle in our entire lives. This story is completely all to God’s glory! I didn’t find this car, I didn’t make it happen on my own, we did what we could and God took care of the outcome.
The waiting, the trusting, and the patience was very hard at times. And, the night of the deal, I felt in my soul that I was at my breaking point.
I can’t explain why and how God answers the way He does. But, I do know that He answers, even if it’s no or not right now.
We often hear Christians say, just trust in God. I looked up the word trust and it means, “a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.”
To trust in God, we have to know our God. Sometimes, we need to look back at His track record in the Bible, yes but also in our own lives. In the closet that night, He comforted my heart by saying so clearly to my spirit, “Just look at all I have brought you through. I will be faithful again.”
I didn’t know that the breakthrough would happen in the next 5 minutes when my husband came back in the house. And, I think back now at how this situation would be totally different if we had ignored the lack of peace we had at the dealership that night and just went ahead and financed the car.
He is so, so faithful, friend. I pray this is another story to encourage your faith in the incredible God we serve!
Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
You see, this isn’t even about the car. It’s a nice thing, but it’s just a thing. This is about the Lord and how much He cares about you and how His goodness lasts forever.
Philippians 1:5-6 says, “Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.”
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