Why is Pastor Jay Happy That His Car Broke Down?

By most measures yesterday started out as any other day. As the pastor of a small church, much of the day is consumed doing visits and running errands and yesterday was no exception. My day started with a quick trip to Celebration, Fl and from there I was up into Orlando to pickup some much needed and hard to find parts for our sanctuary lighting. The lighting company was just off of Orange Blossom Trail and Gore Street, those of you familiar with the area may know that it is part of the neighborhood that help Orlando break it’s own record in murders last year.

After leaving Orlando, I traveled north to Altamonte Springs, which is where the fun started. Traveling on I-4 is an adventure in and of itself but it is made even more so when your clutch pedal suddenly sinks to the floor and won’t return. Fortunately, I was close enough to the Altamonte exit that I was able to coast off the interstate and onto a side street before losing momentum. A quick look under the hood revealed that the clutch slave cylinder had ruptured and I was stranded.

I called my wife, Vee, who offered to come and “rescue” me. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my wife, but she is not the best at following directions and I was afraid that if she started for Altamonte Springs I may never see her again. So I started walking.

Now you may be thinking why all of this would make me happy. Well, I’m glad you asked! You see God never promised us that we wouldn’t have storms in our live He actually tells us repeatedly that we will have storms, persecution, & turmoil. However, He also promises to be with us when we have our storms of life and yesterday was no exception! After praying, accessing the situation and asking directions, I found I was only about 1 mile from an auto parts store. I walked to the store and told the clerk what part I needed. At this point, I must tell you that I drive a Daewoo, while they are good little cars, Daewoo went out of business several years ago and parts for their cars are very hard to come by. The clerk informed me that there was only one of the slave cylinders that I needed in Central Florida and it was in their main warehouse. I inquired as to how long it would take to have the part delivered to the store, thinking that I was going to be spending the night in my car, he looked up from his computer and said “Oh, about 10 minutes”. I asked him where the warehouse was and he pointed to a counter on the other side of the store. You see I could have broken down in the “murder capital” of Orlando but instead God allowed my clutch to fail with-in walking distance of the needed supplies. Well to make a long story short, about two hours, $30 and a ruined shirt I was back on the road again. Isn’t God wonderful? As if that wasn’t enough, the slave cylinder uses the same reservoir that the breaks use and it was emptied when the cylinder ruptured. The only thing I can attribute my not losing breaks as well is the power of God or one of his Angels. After all of that, I still made it home in time for dinner and Vee had my favorite meal waiting for me, since I had had such a “tough day”. Days aren’t so “tough” when you’re walking them with God :) It’s nice to be reminded of that from time to time.

Psalms:46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.