Praising God for Truck Problems?

Yes, it's true, there was certain smile on my face and bounce in my step the whole day after seeing our truck loaded on top of a flatbed trailer and hauled off to a mechanic who had just told me 15-20 days would be needed to tear into the whole engine. I know what you're thinking, “Who in their right mind…?” Well, you have to know that this was, in a sense exactly what I prayed for.

 

Starting a month or two back, we began having some troubles with the truck, especially with rough idling on cold starts. Internet research led me to many possible problems, most of which were extremely minor and no need for concern. However, driving into the capital city in late September, I specifically prayed, “Lord get us safely to Addis Ababa, and then if this is a major issue that needs attention, please make that obviously clear early in our seven week stay.”

 

Now in Addis, I don't drive the truck very much, Andrea needs it to run errands, and doctor appointments, and getting Micah to and from school on days he is allowed to attend. And so for a week and a half, I didn't so much as touch our vehicle until one Friday morning. On that particular day, I was hoping to bring a bunch of baby clothes to the office to pass them onto a colleague who recently welcomed their first child. I started the truck, gave it a minute to warm up beyond the ugly idle and then started down our cobblestone road. Less than a block away, there was a loud crack from the engine and the terrible noise that followed, alerting me that my plans for the day had just changed. I limped the truck back home and called the mechanic, who quite quickly identified the noise as a bad bearing on a connecting rod inside the engine cylinder.

 

I praise God that he send a noise we couldn't ignore, not leaving me wondering.

I praise God that it happened in Addis Ababa, not down-country among the Gumuz.

I praise God that it was so close to our house, not in the middle of a busy intersection where everybody gathers the "help."

I praise God that I was the one driving it, not Andrea with her backseat full of kids.

I praise God that no appointments or school days were missed in the incident, all I had to do was make a simple phone call, “Hey, truck problems, start without me, I'll be in as soon I can.”

 

Since that day, now two weeks have passed, I've been impressed with the mechanic, who promised that he alone would do the work, unlike the common practice of qualified mechanics who open a shop, and hire of force of young minions to actually do the work. Praise God! I'm thankful that he works under a "replace only what needs to be replaced" policy, unlike the common practice of gouging customers by requiring the replacement of lightly used parts which if not claimed can be resold for extra profit. Praise God! I am also thankful that the total bill looks like it will come down to around $1,000, which is definitely manageable in our truck budget for the year! Praise God!

 

With “Praise Gods” all around, what is there to be upset about? Sure, we could worry about the future, and let anxiety and fear steal precious hours of sleep each night – “What if this guy overlooks or forgets something in putting the great mechanical puzzle back together?” But just as God is the Great Physician, so also, I see him as the Great Mechanic, able, if he wills it, to guide the hands of our “truck doctor” with His standard of perfection. It is in Him we trust.