But let him ask in faith, never wavering; James 1 v 6
`I pressed the accelerator, the engine wined, nothing happened. Our elderly Morris Oxford, like the patients Sheila and I had just been singing to, was failing both outwardly and inwardly. Being parked on a steep hill outside Hastings hospital didn’t help. I tried starting off again, this time in reverse gear, the worn automatic gearbox was proving difficult and the car only moved a foot or two. I tried the forward gear again, slowly, imperceptibly the car inched forward, slowly gathering a moderate speed as the road leveled out, we drove home with grateful thanks in our hearts.
The Lord had blessed us, the patients and staff at the meeting and He was well aware of our need for a newer vehicle
Whenever we stopped at the garage to give the car a drink of petrol, Sheila always got out of the passenger door, the driver’s door lock was jammed, I followed her taking the starting handle with me, then Sheila would get back into the car and sit in the driving seat. After petrol tank had been filled, Sheila would put her foot on the accelerator pedal and I would turn the starting handle. When the car started she would have to alight to allow me to get into the driving seat again then she followed me into the passenger seat. If the car stalled while
we were on the road the whole rigmarole would have to be repeated. It was really quite amusing; passersby must have wondered what we were doing as they watched the pantomime.
‘Lord…’ I prayed.
I remembered the kindness of Sister C… , who had given us a gift of ten pounds which we had put into a Building Society account which now held £860, not enough for even a second hand car. Sheila had seen a Morris Marina Estate in a local garage, it was exactly what we needed but it was priced at £2,600.
We didn’t know what to do, our account balance was under £900. We decided to put out ‘a fleece’ before the Lord. We prayed, ‘Lord if this car is reduced by £300 we will take it Lord that You want us to go ahead and buy it.’ We slept on it.
The following day the dog and I went for our daily walk. I had no intention of going near the garage but I felt strangely drawn towards it. Although I’d told myself I wouldn’t look at the car, my eyes wandered towards it. I was amazed to see the price had been reduced. I looked again, yes the Morris Marina Estate had been reduced by £245. It wasn’t right! I pondered it in my heart. ‘Lord what is this?’ Praying all the time I was led to go into the car showroom and wait. There was no one around. ‘Lord, please guide me,’ I prayed again.
‘Can I help you sir?’ a salesman asked, he had appeared while I was talking to the Lord. I explained the situation. We were Gospel singers and had a full time ‘Faith Ministry.’ We were interested in the Morris Marina Estate. ‘Can you tell me your best price?’
The salesman was apologetic, ‘We’ve only just made a reduction of £245.’
‘We’re very interested, would you be kind enough to reconsider and give me your best possible price?’
The salesman looked puzzled as he took my address. I went home to tell Sheila.
Nothing happened for two days. On the third day a letter was delivered by hand, this is what it said:
“Dear Sir,
We have considered the price of the Morris Marina Estate at its newly reduced price of £2,355 and after further consideration we can reduce the vehicle by another £55. This makes the selling price £2,300. If you are interested, please contact us.”
I read the letter again. I was amazed. The car had been reduced by £300. I knew in my heart that this was the Lord’s confirmation. After more prayer I decided to ask if the garage would accept a deposit of £50. The answer was Yes they would.
After the deposit of £50 had been handed over the salesman asked, ‘When would you like to pick it up Sir?’
I hadn’t thought about it! Christmas was only two months away and I knew we would need the car to fetch Sheila’s mother from Harlow. I arranged to pay the balance on the 22nd of December. I picked up the receipt and walked home. This is where faith began for we still only had £860 in the Building Society account! ‘Lord…?’
A most remarkable sequence of events unfolded in the following days.
I wrote the sum of money we needed on a sheet of paper. Beside the amount I wrote down a Scripture: “My God shall supply all your needs, according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19
A Christian friend offered us an interest free loan but we remembered our promise to the Lord, never to borrow money as the Word of God says.
The next day we received a gift of £2 – a small amount yet I found another Scripture and wrote it beside the gift and reduced the amount by that amount. Each day small amounts of money arrived. I praised God and deducted them from the total. The amount we needed seemed impossible.
Sheila, I knew, having a desperate battle. Should she put the money we had saved for Karen’s wedding present into the “car fund”? What about the money budgeted for the gas and electricity? We had no other money. After a struggle
Sheila knew she had to sacrifice all. She let it go and trusted the Lord. It was even harder for Sheila knowing the family were coming for Christmas Day, how would she feed nine of them? She could hardly offer them cheese sandwiches. Where were the provisions to come from?
As the days passed, the money needed for the car arrived, £5 here and £2 there, no gift was over £10. On the 22nd December we were £30 short.
We had advertised the old Morris Oxford for sale and I had told Sheila, ‘The first one who comes with cash can buy it.’
It was Saturday morning when a young man arrived who was interested in the old car. It was embarrassing.
‘The driver’s door is stuck, you have to get in through the passenger’s door.
The driver’s window won’t open, it’s jammed. You cant start with the key, you have to start it with the starting handle!’
‘No problem, I’m going to use it in a “banger race,’ the young man replied, quite unaffected by all the car’s “little” problems. He handed over £30 in cash and drove away well pleased with his purchase. Sheila and I both laughed when
we remembered the message stuck to the dashboard, it read, “JESUS LOVES YOU.” We pictured our old car in a race to destruction with the sticker in a very prominent position.
Later that morning having obtained a Building Society cheque we went to the garage. The salesman looked bemused as we built up little piles of money on his desk. A pile of notes, piles of coins, a couple of cheques, £2,300 exactly! I explained that when we had put down the deposit we only had £860 and how we had trusted the Lord to send in the money. We were living by faith and the Lord had not let us down.
After the documents had been handed over and we had been shown the the car controls, we sat praying, thanking the Lord and dedicating the car to the Lord’s service and care. The salesman waited patiently while we prayed, he had expected us to drive away as soon as we had seated ourselves in the car.
How we rejoiced in God’s goodness.
We scraped our last few pounds together, £9 from the bottom of Sheila’s purse, using it to fill up with petrol. Fixing a text to the windscreen we set off broke but happy towards Harlow Town to pick up Sheila’s mother.
The new car sped along so silently, we were praising the Lord and soon reached our destination.
On the return journey we stopped to visit our cousin, June, we wanted to tell her the good news and show her our new car.
As we left June’s house to drive through the Dartford tunnel I could hear weeping from the back of the car.
As soon as it was possible I pulled over to find out what the matter was. Turning to Sheila I saw a Christmas card in her hands and with it was a cheque for £100. Amazing, Praise the Lord. God’s provision. My heart was full of gratitude. When we reached home we found an envelope on the door mat containing £30 in cash.
In the last few days before Christmas we were overwhelmed with gifts of money, food parcels, Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, fruit and vegetables. A friend brought half a leg of pork, the family brought a whole leg of pork and All Saints Hospital supplied us with a Christmas gift – an eighteen pound turkey.
‘All we need now is a tin of biscuits,’ Sheila joked.
That evening there was a knock at the door. Two friends stood there.
‘We’ve brought you some apples.’ They handed us a large cardboard box.
Sheila emptied out the apples and discovered a tin of biscuits!
Hallelujah! Glory to God!
On Christmas day we sat down to a table over-laden with God’s loving provision. We bowed our heads in thanksgiving and praise, Sheila and I knew this was the hand of God. My eyes were moist as we began to eat.
‘Do you believe in miracles?’ I thought I saw the wooden table bend under the weight. the car stalled
“I have been young and now I am old, but I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or their seed begging bread.” Psalm 37:25