Navigation and Temptation

Yesterday, at least by my intention, was to have been the day that my car was going to be fixed.  That wasn't what happened.

Have you had days where you open your eyes, the alarm clock has gone off, and all the sudden you remember something you had to do - something you had forgotten the night before?

Have you...well...fill in the blank.  The unexpected shows up in life much faster than the expected.

In my case it was the car repair and not the alarm clock issue.  I had an appointment,  the communication with the arrival of the Installation Technician was great. So far so good right?  He was going to be on time, this would be done, back to driving it by the evening.  Uh. Wrong.

Turns out that he did discover why my window likely broke. So he couldn't fix it.
Gave me instructions and was on his way.

So I go to follow those instructions and confusion sets in.  It's like the Titanic. I saw the top of the iceberg but what lay under the water was much bigger.

Prayers were small but direct.  Lord I need help!  So the communication between my Insurance and the Dealership to obtain the repairs and parts wasn't going well.  More prayer.

The estimated cost for the Dealership was almost $690. For a window and regulator.  The top bill that the Insurance would cover was $140, much of that was my deductible.  So make more calls, maybe the regulator could be covered by my insurance.  More prayer, more calls.

Nope. It's considered normal wear and tear.  More prayer more calls.  Lord the waves are crashing but my rudder is small. I need help!

A thought comes to call my brother who is a mechanic.  He goes through some searching and comes up with a replacement part number.  He hasn't the time to look farther so I take down the number and go to look.

Found the regulator assembly at a highly unlikely place, for about $80. A far cry from nearly $690. Got the part with free shipping!  Thank you Jesus!  I was here when the guy opened up the door.  So I hope that I can retrace his steps.  I will replace the regulator and do as instructed after that about the window.

Prayer works people.  I know what Scripture says in James 5:16 "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."  Now, I don't consider myself righteous, but I know who is. My Jesus is. I have seen Him move huge mountains at the sign of a prayer before.

Was reading this morning about how He weighs the intentions of your heart.  You might think you're doing alright, but He knows what your underlying motivation really is.  He sees through us.  He knows every temptation of man.  He's been there.  The Bible says so.  Tempted in every way yet was without sin.  No false motives in Jesus at all.

Ever wonder about those rare times when He was really angry at people while He was here?  If He mentions that should He basically give in to the temptation over 10,000 legion's of Angels would be at His disposal?  Have you thought about the rage He felt at people turning His Temple into the Mall of Israel?  The anger at how hard the hearts were of the so-called Jewish leaders?  If He could, and did, at the power of His voice, call out and bring Lazarus back from the dead, that same voice could do as Moses prayed, open up the Earth and swallow up those people?
His Temptations didn't end with the ones at the beginning of His ministry with Satan.  All it says of that time is that Satan withdrew until a more opportune time. He would be back.

He likely has there when Jesus made a whip to drive out people and turn over the 100 pound tables.  Egging Him on to do more damage. 

The temptation to give in to despair and worry is the same as that.  Temptation is temptation.  It's all the same.  But, like Jesus, we have the choice to give in or not.  To worry or not. 

Experience isn't necessarily the answer either for us.  Peter had just confessed Jesus as the Christ then wham!  Was guided by personal self interest and got rebuked. His motivation at that second was shown to him.

Prayers don't need to be complicated.  You are talking to your Savior.  Not AAA. Not the Doctor.  Not a telemarketer.

He already knows your heart, your thoughts and intentions.  He already knows and is waiting for you to agree with Him on it.  Either to fix your heart by turning to go His way or to see how much longer you will be staying the way you are until you DO turn and go His way.

Jesus knew my thoughts and intentions of fixing my car.  At length we have tried to understand the whys of it all.  But in the end, trusting in God's plans were what we came down to.  He guides us only if we are listening and obeying. Obviously when a sheep shuts up, it hears its Masters voice and follows.  "Here, come this way." "Hold on, stop. Go no further this direction." "Wait here a moment and rest."

Patience, like respect, is earned, not given.

At least that's how I am learning it. We are by nature impatient people.  Wanting instant results and immediate responses.
I am reminded of a cartoon of a character putting his hand out and holding back the other character's forward movement only by holding his head.  Arm and feet still moving until he finally hears the first character say to hold on there n stop.

Patience is taught to us in Christ.  We need to be slowed down and made to wait.  We read the Old Testament stories and don't consider that those took place over YEARS.  Decades and more. It wasn't this happened then this happened, like in a TV movie.

Pray more, listen more, and Jesus will show where to go n what to do.  My car will get fixed. For whatever reason we are down a vehicle we may never know.  But being patient right now and waiting on God is the key. The work that will need to be done will get done.  Getting upset will solve nothing.  God has a Plan that always works.  Every time every day. The temptation to get bent out of shape isn't really there. 

I think of the Karate Kid, the first movie. Many times Daniel was impatient. Wanting quick results. Miyagi would make a noise n tell him to slow down. Be patient.

God isn't going to yell at us to be patient. He will gently remind us to be patient but not yell it.

We may be living this life, but it's according to God's plans.  Don't get bent out of shape because there's work He's doing.