God’s Perfect Provision

“...For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” — Matthew 6:8

Life has a way of sneaking up on you. One moment things are fine, and the next, they aren't. Sometimes the "broken thing" is a minor nuisance, but other times, it feels overwhelming.

However, whether the problem is big or small, they all have one thing in common: The Lord knows about each one. Nothing happens in your life that He is not acutely aware of.

I’ve had so many times in my life where things went sideways, and the only resolution was the intervening hand of God. I want to share a story about two specific times—involving the same situation—where God showed me He was watching over the details.

The Search for a Needle in a Haystack

A few years ago, we found ourselves in desperate need of a new car. Our current vehicle was aging, and the repair bills were starting to rival the cost of a monthly payment on a brand-new vehicle. Since we travel significantly every year, we needed reliability.

Normally, buying a car isn't an issue. But this wasn’t a "normal" time.

It was a couple of years after COVID, and the automotive world was in chaos. Between factory shutdowns, broken supply chains, and a severe shortage of semiconductor chips, vehicle inventories were critically low. The average wait time for a new vehicle was estimated at six months.

We did our research and found a car we loved—it was an upgrade, had great gas mileage, and fit our needs perfectly. We called the dealership, and they actually had one! It was grey—not the color we wanted—but with inventory so low, we knew beggars couldn't be choosers. We made an appointment to see it.

"It Just Showed Up"

When we arrived at the dealership that evening, we met our salesman. He gave us a strange look and said something unexpected.

He told us a shipment of vehicles had arrived that afternoon, and inside was a different color of the model we wanted. He said, "We had no idea it was coming. It just showed up."

We walked out to the lot and witnessed nothing shy of the Lord’s provision.

• It was the exact model and color we had originally wanted.

• It was a "Special Edition" sports model with extra bells and whistles (sunroof, sports mode, etc.).

• It was so new it still had the plastic wrapping on the hood from the factory.

• The dealership hadn't even test-driven it yet.

With a little persuasion, the manager let us take it for a spin. It was perfect. We bought it on the spot. Both the manager and the salesman remarked that it was the fastest they had ever seen a car sell from arrival to purchase. They were baffled that it arrived without their knowledge.

We just smiled. We knew it wasn't an accident; it was God.

The Second Miracle: The Radio

Fast forward about a year. We started having issues with the car's "head unit"—the screen that controls the audio and navigation. Since we travel often, having maps and navigation is crucial.

We took it in for inspection, and they confirmed the unit was defective. The bad news? Due to the ongoing chip shortage, the part was on backorder across all of North America. There was no ETA on availability.

As our late-summer trip approached, we got nervous. We even called dealerships in other states, hoping to find the part. Everyone told us the same thing: Backordered. None available.

The dealership eventually told us they would have to cannibalize a part off a car on the lot to fix ours. But God had a different plan.

A Reminder of His Faithfulness

On August 15, 2024, at 11:30 AM, I received a text message that I keep to this day.

The service rep wrote:

"Shayne, I tried calling but went to voicemail. I have a brand new radio here! It’s like brand new in box, it’s not a reman, used or from a donor car! It just showed up a few minutes ago, and now it’s by my parts manager's desk."

When I went to drop off the car, they told me they had never actually placed the order because the system showed it as backordered at the factory. The account rep checked with the managers, and no one had ordered it.

He said, "It just showed up, and it wasn’t even listed in our system."

He Will Supply All Your Needs

I’m not saying that God is a cosmic slot machine, nor am I saying He will always give us every luxury we ask for. The point is that He knows what we NEED.

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” — Philippians 4:19

Let me encourage you today! God knows where you are. As a good Father, He wants to provide for you. He simply wants you to ask Him to meet that need and then trust that He will provide.

Sometimes the provision is exactly what we hoped for (like the perfect car), and sometimes it looks different. But at the end of the day, He is faithful.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” — Matthew 7:11

God bless you, and may you find everything you need within His will for your life