- Isaiah 53:4-6, NLT
* Peace (from Strong's Concordance)
completeness, soundness, welfare, peace
1. completeness (in number)
2. safety, soundness (in body)
3. welfare, health, prosperity
4. peace, quiet, tranquillity, contentment
5. peace, friendship
1) of human relationships
2) with God especially in covenant relationship
6. peace (from war)
7. peace (as adjective)
You are my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for you
- Words from the song "You Are Holy" by Michael W. Smith
Last Friday, Brooke and I were out running errands and our car would not start. We borrowed a friend's car to get a jump, but the car started before I hooked up the jumper cables. I had the battery checked and was told it was holding a charge, although it could still be time to replace it. I found out the battery had to be purchased from the dealership and they may have to install it because removing the battery might reset the computer on the car. Cost: $110. This was the same day I was paying the bills. Looking at my checking account, I saw that I did not have enough money to buy a new battery this week. But whoever said the devil isn't predictable? As I sat there trying to figure out how to get a new battery so that my wife did not get stranded somewhere, I suddenly noticed that my tithe check plus what I had left over for the week would cover the battery. Right then and there, I prayed, "Lord, I am going to be faithful with the tithe and I am asking you to take care of my car and battery." Sunday night when the car would not start at Life Group for Brooke, I thought for a moment that God may not have heard what I prayed.
On Monday, a mechanic friend from church offered to check my battery and alternator. Both checked out fine. We then went online and researched the problem and found out that many people with 2003 Saturn Ions have had these same intermittent failure-to-start problems. In each case reported, replacing the ignition switch was Saturn's answer. My friend offered to install a new ignition switch for me, so it seemed the $42 for the part was all I would be out. My friend spent 3 and a half hours trying to install the part. Actually, he had it installed much sooner than that but spent the rest of the time trying to figure out why the engine security light came on 100% of the time now and the car would never start. He did all he could and I finally got him to go home. He figured either the new part was bad or there was some sort of procedure that needed to be followed when installing an ignition switch so that the car's computer would accept it.
I would like to say I was walking by faith and knew God would take care of it all, but that simply was not the case. My stomach was in knots. Now I was going to have to have my car towed into the dealership and I had no money at all to have it worked on. Worry, worry, worry. Go to bed worrying. Wake up worrying.
Tuesday morning, the one verse to this song, "You are my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for you" just kept going through my head. Finally I prayed, "Lord, is this song for me today? I can't seem to get it out of my head. I am doing my best to live my life for you, so I am going to trust you to be my Prince of Peace." I certainly would not say I was the picture-perfect man of faith from that time on, but I did begin to trust that the Lord was going to take care of the situation for us.
I called the Saturn dealership and told them what happened. They told me the computer had to be reset and asked if I could bring the car in. I told them it would have to be towed, so the lady on the phone talked to a tech there in the shop. She came back and told me the computer could be reset manually and the instructions to do so could be found online, but it was a very complicated process and most people just give up. I was walking in faith too much to give up (or to more honest, I knew I could not afford to give up!), so I asked the tech to call me back and give me the instructions on how to reset the computer. Ten minutes later he called, gave me the instructions and it worked. Our car problems were fixed for $42.00
And then to top it all off, Isaiah 53 was part of my devotional reading for today and I ran across verse 5. When I saw the word "peace", I did a quick word study. Sometimes I a slow learner, but I think I got my lesson for this week!
On Monday, a mechanic friend from church offered to check my battery and alternator. Both checked out fine. We then went online and researched the problem and found out that many people with 2003 Saturn Ions have had these same intermittent failure-to-start problems. In each case reported, replacing the ignition switch was Saturn's answer. My friend offered to install a new ignition switch for me, so it seemed the $42 for the part was all I would be out. My friend spent 3 and a half hours trying to install the part. Actually, he had it installed much sooner than that but spent the rest of the time trying to figure out why the engine security light came on 100% of the time now and the car would never start. He did all he could and I finally got him to go home. He figured either the new part was bad or there was some sort of procedure that needed to be followed when installing an ignition switch so that the car's computer would accept it.
I would like to say I was walking by faith and knew God would take care of it all, but that simply was not the case. My stomach was in knots. Now I was going to have to have my car towed into the dealership and I had no money at all to have it worked on. Worry, worry, worry. Go to bed worrying. Wake up worrying.
Tuesday morning, the one verse to this song, "You are my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for you" just kept going through my head. Finally I prayed, "Lord, is this song for me today? I can't seem to get it out of my head. I am doing my best to live my life for you, so I am going to trust you to be my Prince of Peace." I certainly would not say I was the picture-perfect man of faith from that time on, but I did begin to trust that the Lord was going to take care of the situation for us.
I called the Saturn dealership and told them what happened. They told me the computer had to be reset and asked if I could bring the car in. I told them it would have to be towed, so the lady on the phone talked to a tech there in the shop. She came back and told me the computer could be reset manually and the instructions to do so could be found online, but it was a very complicated process and most people just give up. I was walking in faith too much to give up (or to more honest, I knew I could not afford to give up!), so I asked the tech to call me back and give me the instructions on how to reset the computer. Ten minutes later he called, gave me the instructions and it worked. Our car problems were fixed for $42.00
And then to top it all off, Isaiah 53 was part of my devotional reading for today and I ran across verse 5. When I saw the word "peace", I did a quick word study. Sometimes I a slow learner, but I think I got my lesson for this week!
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