Thankful for "Automotive Mercy"

When we think of the word "mercy" in a biblical context, we think of how God spares us in some way from the consequences we deserve. We usually think of those consequences having some kind of relationship to a particular sin. When the consequences are applied, justice is served. When we are spared the just consequences, mercy is extended to us. I am indeed thankful for that kind of mercy.

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A couple weeks ago, I experienced another kind of "mercy". It didn't involve being spared the consequences of sin. Consequences of stupidity, yes. But sin, no. Let's just call it "automotive mercy", for lack of a better term.

My nephew agreed to help me out by changing the oil in my car. He checked to see how much oil was there. The dipstick was absolutely dry. I have no idea how long I had been running my car with no oil. By rights, my engine should have been totally wrecked. But it wasn't. After refilling the oil, the engine is still miraculously running smoothly.

Oh, there are other things wrong with the car. The air conditioner doesn't work, but I won't care about that until next summer. In the meantime, the heater works. The dashboard lights that allow me to see the speedometer at night don't work. That is, I admit, a bit more problematic, but the car still runs. The radio doesn't work, but I can live without that.

The fact is that God provided me with an affordable car that gets me where I need to go. On top of that, He extended "automotive mercy" to me when I actually deserved the just consequence of a major repair bill.

So right now, even while I am thankful for "automotive mercy", I will also be careful not to presume upon that mercy in the future. How so? I think I'd better be a bit more diligent about making use of the dipstick between oil changes or else one of these days, I could expect to experience a bit of "automotive justice" instead.

We Know What HE Wants

A few days ago, in a post entitled “We Know What We Want”, we considered the fact that unspoken and unreasonable expectations in our relationships can result in problems of volcanic proportions.  These expectations work horizontally, between people.

  The next post, “HE Knows What We Want…and Need” also had something to say about expectations.  In that post, we see that God promises provision.  Because God promised it, we can expect that He will indeed provide.  However, it is also important to look at the conditions in which those promises apply.  These expectations are vertical, and run both ways.

What does God expect from us?  Does he leave us with a host of unspoken expectations?  Are His expectations unreasonable, as ours often are?