Where Faith Meets Fear

God meets us at the edge where Faith meets Fear.

I’ve been at the edge recently and believe it or not, I truly did meet God there.  He always shows up when we need Him.  I know, I know…He is always with us…but sometimes it just doesn’t feel like it, if you know what I mean.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with my daughter about their vehicle.  I offered to help pay for some auto repairs they desperately needed.  Come to find out that the repair center I found for themdeclined to fix their car.  In all good conscience, they couldn’t given the trans is going and will likely fail within a year or less.  Great (eye roll).  And honestly great that the repair center had the integrity to let them know this and not take their money for the fixes they needed.

Time to look for a used vehicle for them, right?  So I helped them find some reliable used vehicles.  I set up an appointment with my daughter to go look at them.  The day of our excursion I began thinking…how are they going to pay for this used vehicle?  Hmmm…. I text my daughter and tell her to inquire with her credit union.  Given their current financial situation, they don’t qualify.

I did the only thing I could do and I offered to give them my car. There was a lot of discussion and there were a lot of mixed emotions on both sides.  My daughter finally accepted and said that she would talk to her husband.

So began the search for a new car for myself. I found what I wanted and then I began looking for dealerships who had the vehicle I was in search of. 

I had no idea how I was going to afford a car payment. My salary is made up of base pay supplemented by profit-sharing. It seemed like I was going to have to reduce the money I put my 401(k), or stop investing entirely, to enable me to help them. To say that I was anxious about it was an understatement.

This all happened over the course of one single weekend. Even though I appeared to have it all together for my daughter, I was silently freaking out.

Monday morning came around and I began my drive into work. I turned on my podcast and listened. And what I heard… It more than convicted me that I was doing the right thing. The podcast was on the book of James and this particular podcast was chapter four.  When I heard James 4:17 everything became clear. I knew that I was making the right decision and that I was doing the right thing and that everything would work out.

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
‭‭James‬ ‭4:17‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬

Everything would be okay.  It had to be.

I walked into the office and opened up my laptop. That’s when I saw an email in regards to an update to our salary plan.  There was a video I needed to watch to be able to understand what was going to change. As I watched the video, sitting in my cube, I wanted to cry tears of joy. But I was at work, so I just sat there and silently thanked our Lord for such a wonderful miracle.

I discovered that my base salary was going to increase a significant percentage and that the profit-sharing would balance out to equal the yearly salary I’d received in the past. This was my miracle!!!  I had thought for sure that I was going to have to cancel contributing to my 401(k). I thought for sure that there was no way, without hurting my future financial well being, that that I would be able to afford a car payment. Little did I know that God was working out all things for my and my daughter’s family’s good.

Next came the search for insurance. I contacted my current provider, heard their quote and did not like it. I began researching auto insurance companies and prices in the state of Michigan. I came across several articles and reviews, and then contacted the preferred carriers. I found insurance that would cover me for the exact same coverage I had on my current vehicle, for this new vehicle, which was half of what I was currently paying.  Half!  In addition to that, I had recently purchased a wireless security system and planned on canceling my monitoring system saving me even more money.

There I was looking at a huge savings on insurance plus a savings on my security system which would cover almost half of the car payment that I now needed to make.  The change in my salary plan covered more than the balance. 

What more could I ask for?!  

This was definitely the handiwork of our Lord. There is absolutely no other way that this could’ve happened at the exact time, at the exact moment and in the exact way that I needed it to happen. The way that I needed it to be able to help my daughter and her family. 

God is working. HE is ALWAYS working for our good.

It’s when we step out in faith and into our fear that we meet Him.  And when we meet Him and move beyond the edge…it’s when we witness miracles.