Last month I left my car with a christian mechanic to get some basic body work done, and have it repainted. Going into the job I understood something like this would take a while (around two weeks). But extra work for the mechanic along with some complications meant the job took almost three instead!
As the weeks passed my frustration understandably started to rise. Finally the mechanic promised that on Saturday the car would be finished. I left most of my things at the Bible College where I’d been teaching (had stayed up there last week) and went back to Barrouallie Friday excited about getting my car back.
Around 12:30 Saturday I saw the mechanic.
But he wasn’t driving my car….he was walking
The mechanic explained that because it had rained Friday and Saturday he wasn’t able to finish the job. A drop of water could create bubbles or streaks in the paint job. It was a real let-down not to get my car since I’d looked forward to it so much, but I did understand why the job wasn’t finished.
Over the weekend I prayed that the Lord would bring good weather without rain on Monday so the car could get done. But it was pouring rain this morning, and the job was delayed again.
My mood wasn’t very good this morning riding public transportation to the college. It actually got worse because I left my umbrella at the college (planned to use one in my car!). Things weren’t so bad till we neared the road where I needed to get dropped off, and then it REALLY started to rain. By the time I walked up the road to the college, my clothes were completely soaked (thankfully I was able to change into clothes I wore the week before)!
Sadly life isn’t fair sometimes
- We don’t get what we deserve
- Things fall through
- or people let us down
The worst part about these unfair situations is we cannot fix them
There is honestly nothing I, or my mechanic can do to keep the rain away other than praying God would give sunshine! Honestly though the situation is frustrating I don’t blame him, because without the rain on Friday he could have kept the promise to give me the car on Saturday.
So how do we respond to the days when we pray for sun and end up walking in the pouring rain?
Focus on what you can do something about
Frustration has a way of growing to affect every area of our lives. We fixate our minds on that one thing that is unfair, and soon can’t think about anything else
The setbacks with my car made it easy to only focus on not having it. But the Lords help I was able to begin focusing on things that could be achieved.
- Like teaching on the book of Revelation at the Bible College
- Going home to finish some projects, and work on Sermon preparation
- And spend some extra time with the Lord to quiet my restless heart
The Lord calls us to continually lay that thing we cannot fix at His feet (because He can fix it), and then put our attention on His daily calling for our lives. It’s amazing how much less stressful life is when we stop trying to do God’s job!
I’m honestly not sure when I’ll get my car! But thats okay, because God does. And as I do His work for the day, He will work out my car situation for His glory.
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