Discerning the Will of God in Car Buying
Posted by Rebecca Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:03:00 GMT
Pretty much the title says everything.
Yesterday I test drove 8 cars. When I was finished I knew what I wanted, and I was ready to do anything I could do to get what I wanted from somewhere, anywhere.
I looked all over AutoTrader, Craigslist, eBay and the classifieds. When I say I looked all over, I meant that I looked in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, College Station, Corpus Christi and Abilene.
Nothing.
Except one. That looked sketchy (exactly what I wanted at the exact price…yeah, sketchy.) I emailed that person a few questions about the vehicle and then promptly forgot about it.
This morning, I was praying on my way to work. I wanted peace in my heart over the situation, and I straight up did not have it.
Then I remembered that most of all, I want to learn to be a better steward of my time, talent, and money this year.
A better steward of money. I want to honor God with my money, which is a skill that I was not born with nor one that I saw demonstrated in my home growing up.
So it is hard. It is hard to honor God with my money. Even though I have an incredible credit score, I still feel like I am standing on the edge of a terrible precipice and if I make one wrong move, I’m dead. Period, end of story.
This morning as these thoughts were rolling through my head, I pretty much up my mind to get either a Civic or a Corolla, because they are very affordable and get good gas mileage etc.etc.etc.
As I decided to choose honoring God over pleasing myself, I felt more settled and peaceful about the decision. After all, a more affordable car meant more money each month to put into savings, or towards school debt or whatever. Good idea.
When I got to work this morning, I very quickly searched AutoTrader for the two cars that I was thinking of getting.
Then I checked my email. The woman I had contacted yesterday wrote back with information that was very pleasing. I had completely forgotten that I had been in touch with her. She has exactly what I want (CR-V) at exactly the price I want (less than what they usually go for).
She’s in Houston.
So now I have to decide what to do. I’m still going to the dealership tomorrow to try out the Corolla, and even the RAV-4, because it’s the smart thing to do and I try really hard to always do the smart thing.
I’m a little scared to drive all the way to Houston and see that the car is dirty or doesn’t drive like I want it to. At the same time, I’ve prayed and prayed that God would show me what I really wanted, because he knows better than me what I want, and that he would bring it into my path.
This Houston car could be it. It could also just be temptation. A test.
So I’m standing here, looking out over the financial Grand Canyon, and I can feel the lose sand under my feet. I’m not sliding yet, but I feel that if I move an inch in the wrong direction, I’m going to fall.
The problem lies in my heart. I have a parachute, a perfect one that works without fail. This parachute is God. But I don’t trust it. I don’t trust it because it would be just like me to roman candle on this jump.
I’ll jump tomorrow, I hope.
