This morning I want to share a quick story that is a great picture of the body of Christ. For those that attend our Sunday morning service at Cedar Valley Church there is a young man from the Congo that plays in our band who's name is Emanuel .
Emmanuel called me this week with car trouble and wondered if I could help him get his car running. Anyone who knows me knows that I am the furthest thing from a mechanic but I wanted to help him find someone who could diagnose the problem and fix it as inexpensively as possible.
The first thing I did was call my friend Jim. He is the first person I call to look at my vehicles if I have something wrong with them. He usually is able to diagnose the problem and then most of the time fix it. So last night Manu (Emmanuel) followed me over to Jim's house. I felt so bad as I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Manu barely getting the car over 15 miles an hour and a long line of traffic was trailing him. When we finally got to Jim's house he quickly said that Manu's car was down a couple cylinders. He suggested we go to advanced auto parts and have the engine light checked to see exactly which ones it was. Another long slow drive to the auto store resulted in us finding out that the 1st and 4th cylinders were the issue.
Well it was great to know the problem but now we needed someone to fix the problem as cheap as possible. I made a couple calls and was referred to a mechanic who attends our church named Chris. i knew Chris but didn't know he was a mechanic. It "just happened to be" that Chris was working at the dealership a couple blocks from where we were with Manu's car. He also "just happened" to be getting off in 15 minutes and said he would meet us there at the auto store.
I really didn't think the car would get fixed by Chris, I just thought he could point us in the right direction. I turned to Manu and said "Let's ask God to lead us to someone who can fix your car. God cares about the sparrows, how much more does he care about what's going on in your life with this car?" So we prayed and brought Manu's need before the Lord.
The car started right up and the engine was fixed. Manu could not stop shaking our hands and saying "God bless you, God bless you!" Before pulling away to drive home I stopped and prayed with Manu thanking the Lord for using the body of Christ to meet his needs."
Although those involved have no idea of the huge blessing they bestowed upon this young man who works endless hours and sends his money back home to Congo to pay for his siblings schooling and university. You see Manu's parents are both deceased and he is the oldest child in their family. On top of that he is getting married in November this year back in the Congo and is saving money to fly home and to fly back. This was a mountain of a problem for Manu. It seemed almost impossible yet God used the body of Christ to meet the needs of our brother Manu.
Always be aware that God is looking to use you to help edify, encourage, and build up the body of Christ. You never know how you will be used. Thanks Jim & Chris for being used!
Emmanuel called me this week with car trouble and wondered if I could help him get his car running. Anyone who knows me knows that I am the furthest thing from a mechanic but I wanted to help him find someone who could diagnose the problem and fix it as inexpensively as possible.
The first thing I did was call my friend Jim. He is the first person I call to look at my vehicles if I have something wrong with them. He usually is able to diagnose the problem and then most of the time fix it. So last night Manu (Emmanuel) followed me over to Jim's house. I felt so bad as I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Manu barely getting the car over 15 miles an hour and a long line of traffic was trailing him. When we finally got to Jim's house he quickly said that Manu's car was down a couple cylinders. He suggested we go to advanced auto parts and have the engine light checked to see exactly which ones it was. Another long slow drive to the auto store resulted in us finding out that the 1st and 4th cylinders were the issue.
Well it was great to know the problem but now we needed someone to fix the problem as cheap as possible. I made a couple calls and was referred to a mechanic who attends our church named Chris. i knew Chris but didn't know he was a mechanic. It "just happened to be" that Chris was working at the dealership a couple blocks from where we were with Manu's car. He also "just happened" to be getting off in 15 minutes and said he would meet us there at the auto store.
I really didn't think the car would get fixed by Chris, I just thought he could point us in the right direction. I turned to Manu and said "Let's ask God to lead us to someone who can fix your car. God cares about the sparrows, how much more does he care about what's going on in your life with this car?" So we prayed and brought Manu's need before the Lord.
Shortly after Chris showed up with his tool bag and 40 minutes later after figuring out exactly what needed to be fixed, we purchased the item inside the auto store and Chris installed the part.
The car started right up and the engine was fixed. Manu could not stop shaking our hands and saying "God bless you, God bless you!" Before pulling away to drive home I stopped and prayed with Manu thanking the Lord for using the body of Christ to meet his needs."
Although those involved have no idea of the huge blessing they bestowed upon this young man who works endless hours and sends his money back home to Congo to pay for his siblings schooling and university. You see Manu's parents are both deceased and he is the oldest child in their family. On top of that he is getting married in November this year back in the Congo and is saving money to fly home and to fly back. This was a mountain of a problem for Manu. It seemed almost impossible yet God used the body of Christ to meet the needs of our brother Manu.Always be aware that God is looking to use you to help edify, encourage, and build up the body of Christ. You never know how you will be used. Thanks Jim & Chris for being used!
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