Contentment

1 Timothy 6:6-10 "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."

Godliness with contentment is great gain. This is such a foreign concept to us—or at least to me. I worry so much about money and money-related things. But never once in my life have I gone hungry or had to worry about having clothing to wear.

But this passage goes on to include a warning about not finding contentment. It says that those who seek riches fall into many "harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." Contentment is obviously the cure for these troubles.

May I continually seek riches in the grace of God and contentment in that which he provides.

God Provides ... and provides ... and provides

To the God who "is able to do above all that we ask or think," I need to give abundant praise.

After sending an e-mail to the church about my need for some help with determining what was wrong with my car (see the post from two days ago, directly below), the e-mails and phone calls began to pour in. Many people offered to give me a car (most of them permanently). One person offered to fix the car for me at no charge after he returns from out of town. Others offered to pay for the car to be fixed. One of the elders in the church who was already preparing to sell fix and then sell one of his cars offered to get the car fixed and then give it to me instead of selling it. Then he offered to fix it and sell it and give me the money he got for the car. What an outpouring of true love.

God had already provided a car (my father-in-law's pickup truck), so I expressed my gratitude to each of these people and told them that God had already provided. But what an amazing show of grace from God and from the people of my church.

My father-in-law's truck has more than 200,000 miles on it, so it's not a long-term commuting vehicle, but it is exactly what I need at this time to get me through however long it takes to get my car fixed.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Angels on the highway

My car died today. Traveling home from work, my engine began squealing and then emitted white smoke, so I pulled off to the side of the road (high occupancy vehicle, center lanes), got out, and began to wait for roadside assistance.

After 30 minutes of waiting and getting somewhat miffed at the passersby, I bowed my head and prayed that God would provide someone to assist me since I was stuck between northbound and southbound lanes of 80mph traffic and could not go anywhere without help. Within mere minutes of ending that prayer, a truck pulled to the side of the road in the main lanes and offered assistance. After explaining the situation, the truck driver backed up and entered the center lanes, turned on flashing lights, and set out a flare. He then called for towing services for me. This truck driver later told me that he is a member of Bethel Freewill Baptist Church in Springfield, Virginia.

As the truck driver was getting things handled for me, another car pulled to the side of the road in front of my car. The driver got out and headed back to where I was standing. It was my brother in Christ and fellow Occoquan Bible Church member, Dave Ross. Before even asking what the trouble was, Dave told me that his car was at my disposal for the evening and he would see to it that everything was taken care of and would get me home when everything was done. He then called his brother who lives there in the area to ask if I could leave my car at his place until I could take it to a repair shop. This kept me from having to pay a huge amount for towing all the way to my house (44 miles away).

After a long wait (well over an hour), the tow truck showed up and towed the truck to Dave's brother's house. Dave's brother was amazingly accomodating—even moving his car so I could park my car in his driveway for the rest of the week.

After the tow truck driver had finished his work, I approached him to pay for the towing services. He said, "It's already taken care of," and indicated that Dave had made payment already. I asked Dave how much I owed him and he refused to take payment for it. He said that God has blessed him and he wanted to do this for me. I was so moved by this evidence of Christian love and charity that I can't even explain it.

Dave then drove me all the way to my home, many miles past where he lives, at which time he had to turn around and head home—many hours after he would normally have arrived home to spend the evening with his family.

I don't know how people get along in the world outside the family of God. How blessed we are to be counted among God's chosen ones.