Chapter 15 - Running on Fumes

“The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of

trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”

—Nahum 1:7

Money was very tight, and we had a meeting

Sunday morning in North Carolina, not too
far from home. But there was a problem: I did not
know whether we had enough fuel to get there. It
was a beautiful morning; we decided to chance
it. We loaded our equipment into our vehicle and
started off. We were almost there when “she” started
to sputter and quit. I let her coast to the side of the
road and left the key in the ignition as we all piled
out. Who was going to steal a vehicle with no gas?
    But what were we going to do now? We had only
one option; to walk the quarter of a mile to church.
I assigned each one of the family a piece of equipment
to carry, and off we went. When we arrived at
the church on foot, everyone was wondering who
we were and why we were walking.
    We explained to the pastor what had happened
and soon had everything set up. I showed slides in
Sunday School and preached during the morning
service. It was a great service. The pastor said a
final prayer and dismissed the service.
    We were preparing to walk back to our vehicle
on the roadside when we discovered, to our enjoyment,
that it was in the parking lot! Seeing our surprise,
the pastor explained that he had sent some
men to fill our vehicle with gas and bring it back
to the church. Then he gave us a handful of money,
the results of a generous love offering. That was
another great blessing. It proved once again that the
Lord would take care of our every need.
    Running out of fuel resulted in a generous love
offering and a great blessing from the Lord. You
think we ought to run out of fuel more often? No,
of course, not—not if we can help it: nevertheless,
God was there when we needed Him, just as He will
be there for you. Isn’t God great?

*****

    Another time in Texas we were scheduled for

a meeting at a local church. When we arrived on
Saturday night, the pastor asked if we needed anything,
and I truthfully answered, “Yes, Pastor, we
need some fuel.” He said he would get us some the
next day after the morning service.
    Sunday morning arrived, and we had our
meeting. It was a fine service, and they blessed us
with a nice offering given in the form of a check.
Then the pastor asked me the same question he had
asked the night before: “Is there anything else you
need?”
    Well, I had a check in hand, but still no cash to
buy fuel, so I answered as I had the night before,
“Pastor, we need some fuel.”
    He replied, “Let’s go get something to eat, and
then we will get you some fuel.”
    I tried to explain the gravity of our situation.
“Pastor, we really need some fuel now!”
    He assured me, “We’re not going far.”
    All I could say was, “Pastor, we will run out
before we get to the restaurant and then to a service
station.”
    I guess he did not really understand that I was
not exaggerating, because he calmly replied, “Just
follow me.”
    So we followed him, and not too far down the
road, our vehicle sputtered and we coasted to the
side of the road. Realizing we were no longer following
him, the pastor turned around and came back
to us, asking, “What’s wrong?” We were out of gas,
and he remarked, “You really did need some fuel,
didn’t you? Let me get my car in front, and I’ll pull
you to the service station.” At the station, he filled
our vehicle, and then we went to eat. We had a great
time of fellowship and a good laugh about our running
out of fuel.

(Copyright by Jay B Ayers)