Providence of God

You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord. (Psalm 139:2-4)

I have been going back and forth to Longton, Kansas, for the past few weeks to speak at a church. It is 300 miles almost exactly.

Wednesday I took Ella to the ladies meeting at the Purvises and thought, I’ll check my tires. When I did, I found both of the front tires were not only just about bald, there was cord showing. That meant I was riding in a death trap at 70 mph. It scared me. I was almost afraid to drive home and then to Fame Tire Co the next day.

My van takes stupid little tires. 14 inchers. Nobody uses 14 inch tires these days. The trend is to big tires. Some of the cars today almost look like one of the old Conestoga wagons with those huge wheels.

Thursday morning, I went into Fame and asked for that size in a good used tire. They didn’t have what I had on the van, but they had the next size down for a good price. I bought them, had them put on and now I am ready to go again this week to Kansas.

The point is that my tires were bad and I didn’t know it. But nothing happened. When I went to replace them, they were there for me to buy. It all worked out like I needed. In fact, the lady there (Mrs. Fame?) told me that someone had called for them yesterday but didn’t reserve them, so they were there for me to take.

I was going somewhere to do the will of the Lord and he protected me. As the Psalm above says: You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. God protected Ella and me from a wreck. He saw I needed the tires and he made them available and he made sure I had the money.

I do not believe God goes ahead of us and gives us everything we want or even necessarily need. There were too many godly people in the Bible that had severe needs that God left unaddressed. But then again, sometimes he does. In the gospel accounts, there were lots of sick people, but Jesus only healed some of them.

But the way it went Thursday. God saw that I needed those tires and that he had sent me to that church in Longton and he blessed me with both the tires and the available money to buy them.

He also protected us from a wreck. At 70 mph, if one tire had gone, the other probably would have too and I may well have flipped the van. Ella would have been hurt. So he put in me the need to check the tires and he gave me the tires and money to buy them.

That isn’t a miracle. Those are different. But it is divine intervention in my life. It was God taking care of me so that I could do what I needed to do.

And I praise him for it. Thank you, Lord.