According
to the business world, today is black Friday, tomorrow is Small Business Saturday
and then there’s cyber Monday.
I suppose millions of people will be out looking for the best deals of the year hoping to find favor on prices for that special someone.
In praying over this writing one song continually played in my mind, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” Chris’ actions reminded me of just how powerful the favor of a friend can be.
I suppose millions of people will be out looking for the best deals of the year hoping to find favor on prices for that special someone.
For
me, shopping isn’t something that has entertained most of my thoughts this
week, mainly because of all the activity in our home. Several pet emergencies,
ministry, Thanksgiving, writing and my husband’s birthday filled my agenda and
the week isn’t over.
Throughout
the chaos one thing stayed on my mind; God allowed us to be favor in another
person’s life. I didn’t realize that it
would come in the form of chicken sitting.
Lord, watch over our car!
Our
car has been on the top of our prayer list lately. Even though the fuel filter
was replaced, we smelled gas each time we got out of the car.
My husband asked his friend, I’ll call him
Chris, to bring his car ramps to the clinic last Friday so he could get under
the vehicle to look at it on Saturday.
The fuel filter, however, had other plans.
My husband had to pick up some parts for a job that he was doing. When he got out of the car, the gas fumes were
overwhelming, but you still could not see any leaks. As he was leaving the store, he started the engine
to take a look underneath the car. By
now the leak had made itself visible and gasoline was pouring out of one of the
filter line connections.
The
mechanic that we use occasionally was only about two miles away, so my husband thought
he would be able to make it there. Within
300 yards of the shop the engine quit.
Coasting uphill is not a law of physics that scientists will tell you
works, but the car coasted uphill over a set of railroad tracks, back down the
other side (a few hundred more feet) and right up to the mechanic’s shop
overhead doors. God’s angels went on car
duty that day.
The
shop seemed extremely quiet for a Friday morning, so hubby walked to the front
door and was met by a sign that read, “CLOSED.” Seems the boys had gone deer
hunting.
Now
what? He called his friend with the
ramps. It’s a miracle in itself that he
actually answered the phone. God moved
in another way. This gentleman was in the area when he normally wouldn’t have
been and was only about four blocks away.
Chris came right over and they got to work in the mechanic's parking lot.
It
had rained overnight so the dirt and stone parking lot was a saturated muddy
mess, and it was just above freezing. You get the picture that this wasn’t
going to be a fun thing to do.
The
car is low to the ground so neither of the men could fit completely under the car.
With gas fumes overpowering the location somehow they had to get under there to
work on the problem.
The
filter is located adjacent to the left rear wheel and up inside the
chassis. Chris tried reaching it from
the front and got it hooked up a couple of times only to have it pop off when
they started the car. Both of them
needed to work together to snap this so-called “quick connection” in place. Lying on their backs in the midst of the mess
Chris turned to my husband and bluntly said (using his exact words), “Friendship
sucks”.
About
45 minutes later they were able to get the connection to lock in place. Sore from the fuel line aerobics that they
had done and covered in gasoline, clearly a “No Smoking” sign should have been
placed around their necks.
Job
complete … no tow truck needed, nor any additional costs, just a little extra “Cheer”
detergent in the laundry. For my husband
he felt that God gave him favor in the fact that he had a safe place to work on
the car (an empty parking lot) and that they were able to finish the job
themselves.
Friend Zone?
When
my husband shared the events of the day last Friday, only one thing stuck out
in what he said … Chris referring to this “favor” as a thing of friendship while
he was in the middle of an uncomfortable situation.
This
was a big step forward for Chris. You
see, for the past year I have been praying for him to receive Christ. Every time my husband has the opportunity to
work with this person (in whom he already recognized as a friend), Chris would bring up
questions regarding faith, Christianity and reasons why he didn’t believe. Chris never openly acknowledged my husband as
a friend, but on that day he regarded his act as one of friendship. Wow, that was something huge.
Chicken Boo
A
door opened last week for God to allow someone to show us favor, and now the
Lord was about to permit us to "be favor" for someone else.
Without
knowing about my writing on favor, Chris asked my husband if he would do him a “favor”
this week while he and his wife were out of town for Thanksgiving. This would be another step for him along the
lines of trust. He asked my husband if
he would care for his pets. This isn’t
an easy task, because Chris lives out of town on a gravel road. Getting there is an act of faith, especially in
the dark.
My
husband explained to me that we had to go feed chickens and a feral cat twice a
day, let them out and put them back in their pen at night. Chris told my hubby that we had to make sure
they were safe from the coyotes and bobcats. You can imagine what I thought we
would be doing in rounding up chickens and fencing off wild animals.
Each
day it was hard fitting everything into our schedule and we grew rather tired quickly. I have a new appreciation for chicken
growers.
Right now our day is filled
with other things besides work. Two
rescue cats have been diagnosed with kidney failure and have to be given
medication along with hydration fluids (Lactated Ringers) several times a day.
My husband calls it “juicing them up.” The
easiest way I can explain it is to think of how you baste a turkey or chicken
by adding fluid under the skin. This IV
type procedure has to be done 6 times a day between two cats along with
medications and caring for other animals with special needs.
With
all this going on we didn’t have time to have thanksgiving, but took time to be
thankful. You might have thought that we
were tense and on edge trying to keep up with what we had to do, but we have
had a peaceful week. Lord willing, we
will have our Thanksgiving on Sunday.
Recognizing Favor
This
week I read a lot of comments on social media sites where people posted what
they were thankful for this year. I can
testify that most of them were about family and their work, but few spoke of
their friendships.
It may be an
oversight, but I wonder if people really recognize that having a friend is another
way God gives His children favor.
When
Chris made that statement about friendship, it caused me to remember a passage in the Bible where
Jesus no longer called his disciples servants, but from that point on He
referred to them as friends.
Jesus said, “From now on I call you not servants; for
servants don’t know what his lord does; but I have called you friends; for all
things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15 emphasis mine)
Something
took place, an exchange of trust if you will, when Chris accepted my husband as
his friend.
He recognized there was a
burden, some inconvenience on his part, yet because of friendship he was
willing to take on the task for his “friend.”
He didn’t think of it as an imposition, and gladly got down on the
ground in the mess to save someone.
In praying over this writing one song continually played in my mind, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” Chris’ actions reminded me of just how powerful the favor of a friend can be.
There
are times in our life that God will call us to “be the favor” to someone in the
form of our giving of ourselves in some degree.
That’s exactly what He did with Jesus when Christ laid down His life on
the cross. Jesus demonstrated how great
His love was for us when He willingly obeyed the Heavenly Father.
My
husband was blessed in that he found favor from his friend and God concerning
the car. His friend came when he called
and God caused Chris to be in the area at that particular time. When called, Chris came. This took the friendship to a new level.
I
never thought I’d thank God for allowing me to be a chicken sitter, but I
did. By “being favor” to Chris it has
caused him to continue seeking things about faith and God. Our prayer is that he comes to accept the
Friend that loves him more than any other.
Maybe
you don’t have lots of friends or even one that would come to rescue you in
the midst of trouble; there is someone who will be there every time. Jesus is that friend and is willing to be
anything you need Him to be in your life.
All you have to do is give Him a call … He’ll meet you wherever you are. (P.S. It may or may not involve chickens!)
What
A Friend We Have in Jesus – the story behind the hymn.
Until next time, be
favor to a friend this week!
What's New this week: The New Hess Truck for 2013
Maybe
you don’t know the Living God that I know, but would like to have this kind of
favor in your life also. Click on the
above tab “Tell Me” for
more information on becoming a child of the Savior.
Content and Image Copyright from
Favored1. Do not copy.
Image credit if not listed by Google Images Creative Common License
Scripture reference was taken from the New King James Bible Version provide by Gateway Bible
Image credit if not listed by Google Images Creative Common License
Scripture reference was taken from the New King James Bible Version provide by Gateway Bible
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