Worship in a Car Dealership
“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”
Mark 16:15 NIV
Everything is going well until your car battery isn’t. My heart sank into my stomach as I waited in the dealership lobby. Facing a mountain of bills, I didn’t need anything else added to my budget.
A young man sat down in a chair near me. I looked up at him and he asked, “Are you a believer?” I answered, “Yes, I am!” He turned to the couple in front of us and asked the same question. “Yes we are” they responded. He shared his testimony. His life was one of loss, addiction, and bad decisions. He said a relative never stopped praying for him to find God. When she died – he went on a drinking binge and hit rock bottom. That’s when he heard God speak to him for the first time, saying that He could take away his brokenness if he would ask Him into His heart. “I gave my life to God that moment. I am a changed person. That was three years ago. I have a good job and I got married,” the man explained.
With tears in their eyes, the couple shared how their young son had died suddenly. “I know he is with God. I will see him some day, but it still hurts,” the grieving mother said. I chimed in that our hurts and challenges help to strengthen our bond with God. I shared that a cancer journey was not a chapter of my life I would have written, but it’s the one God is writing. A young mother added, “God saved me and my unborn son after being in a car accident. Doctors said we wouldn’t make it. But we did!” She pointed to a little boy playing with a magazine. “He was not supposed to be able to talk or walk and look what God did – he is walking and talking. God is so good!” she added.
I was so engrossed in listening to their stories I didn’t notice a small group had gathered. A lady chimed in, “You all are making me think about how many times I tell people I will pray for them, only to forget. From now on I will stop and pray with them right there.”
A man stood quietly leaning against the wall. The young man turned to him and asked, “Do you know Jesus?” The man never answered - “It is never too late,” the young man added.
God brought us together for some reason. Maybe we all needed our faith battery jumpstarted, or the quiet man needed to hear there is a God of grace and mercy. Don’t be afraid to share what God is doing in your life – you never know the impact you might have on someone.
Mitzie Avera
