Want to know when you're on the right track with God? Something will happen to try to steer you away from Him. No sooner had I started tithing then my car wants to break down. My car, which by the way was still covered under the original 3yr/30,000 mile warranty, is going to cost me $5000 dollars to fix. This according to the all knowing service department at my dealership. *Sigh*
I unfortunately did not treat my car, which was a blessing from God, in the way I should have. I was not on schedule with my oil changes. It always seemed there was always something more important that needed to be done with that money. I stress the word seemed. What could possibly be more important than caring for the machinery that gets you everywhere you need to go? The one thing that keeps you from having to uitilize public transportation. An item that many people across the nation are without. I have apologized to God for neglecting my car.
My car started blowing blue smoke and was knocking like a diesel engine. The people at Cerritos Nissan service department always left a bad taste in my mouth anytime I'd dealt with them. So it was no surprise when I pulled my limping car in at 7am one Saturday and the guy was predicting doom and gloom. He hadn't even looked at my car, but he proceeded to tell me how one poor soul had the same problem just last week. This unfortunate customer ended up needing $5K dollars for a new engine due to sludge buildup. Of course that might not happen to me, but he felt "obligated" to warn me. Isn't it nice when someone cares?! Three days and $125 dollars (just to look at it!) later, I was told that my car needed....surprise! a new engine. Why? Black sludge in the engine. How much? Why $5000 dollars of course! But just to be sure, he wanted me to authorize another $330 dollars so they could take a deeper look and be certain they should charge me $5K.
This is the part of the show where I imagine myself taking my car and running him down in front of all the other people at the dealership who are currently bent over Cerritos Nissan's proverbial barrel. After all the blue smoke and black sludge clears, we join together rejoicing in overcoming "The Establishment". Of course people who serve God aren't supposed to imagine such things, but the truth of the matter is sometimes we do. The only difference is we smile like a Chesire cat for a moment, experience guilt the next, and ask God for forgiveness afterwards. Pushing aside thoughts of murder, I quietly told the service dealer to please put my car back together because I was coming to pick it up.
I hung up the phone and had a few minutes of freaking out. Then I remembered Who I serve. I apologized to God for not taking care of His gift. I asked for Him to have mercy on me and to work out my car issues. I told him I don't have $5000 dollars, and I need His help. After I calmed down, the Holy Spirit brought back to my mind a study I'd done on Hyundai. They've come a long way and had good cars with even better warranties. I got on the internet and saw that there was a Hyundai dealership across the street from Nissan. I headed out to pick up my crippled car. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I put my situation in God's hands.
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