The Auto Mechanic

One day, I was driving from the west end of the city, to the east end. Suddenly, I felt the Lord say, “Stop. There is something you need to do.” So I stopped my car on the road, and took out a pen and a paper, which I had in the car, and decided to make a list of all of the things I could think of, that I might possibly need to do.

I carefully wrote the numbers 1 through 5, each on separate lines. I thought to myself, “I will write down the first five things that come to mind. I’m pretty sure that whatever it is the Lord wants me to do, it will be on that list.”

Well, I had enough faith for that, so I proceeded to jot down items on each line, starting with line number 1.

1. Oil Change.

I knew I needed an oil change. I had needed one for quite some time, and had been putting it off. Then, I jotted down two other things that came to my mind. I could only think of three things in all, so lines 4 and 5 were left blank.

As I stared at those three “todo” items, I said to myself, “OK. I need an oil change. Let’s start with that.” I proceeded to think about the most efficient way by which I might obtain an oil change.

Where could I go?

There were many places I could go to in the city, but I had a favorite spot which was at a Midas Muffler. This was a place that fixed cars and did oil changes. There was one man who had done work for me before, who was a friend of mine. This is a man I had know for many years. I had met him near my previous work years before, when I needed an oil change. I will call this man’s name Elias1. Elias was a very friendly man, and also trustworthy. I knew where he worked — or at least, I thought I knew where he worked. It had actually been some time since I had seen him last.

I said to the Lord, “All right, Lord. I’m going to call up that place where he works. And if they can take me right away, without any delay, I will go there. But if not, I will not go there. I will go to another place.”

Now there was another place that I already knew about. This other place was much further down the road, about another 10km west of there. It was a branch of the same place where Elias worked. It was another branch of Midas Muffler. I had been there, as well. But I really preferred to go where Elias was.

I called up the Midas Muffler nearest to me, which is the one where I thought Elias was working at. I said, “Would it be possible to get an oil change?”

The woman replied, “No problem. But we can only take you tomorrow.”

Well that was no good for me, because I wanted an oil change right away.

I thanked the woman, and proceeded to call up the second Midas Muffler, which was the one about 10km further down the road.

I said, “Would it be possible to get an oil change?”

The person said, “Sure.”

I asked, “Can I get one right now?”

The person replied, “Yes, we actually have an opening if you come right away.”

I was off in a flash.

I brought my car in for the oil change and left it with them for about an hour, as I wandered off to buy a few items at the local supermarket. After about an hour, I made my way back to the Midas Muffler, because it was now getting late, and they would soon be closing. I made it back shortly before closing. Yes, the oil change had been done, and — look at that — there was my friend Elias!

I didn't realize that Elias was working at this particular Midas Muffler. What a surprise! I had thought he was working at the other one, 10km east of there.

Well, he had. But he switched!

The Lord knew, but I didn't! I was encouraged.

It was now closing time, and Elias and I struck up a conversation. There was much to discuss.

Elias and I decided to talk in my car, and that turned into quite a while.

We talked, and we prayed, and we discussed issues that were important to him. And we certainly found ourselves in no rush, for we had not seen each other in months, and it was time to catch up on the news.

The news was, Elias had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Elias and I prayed, in faith, believing for God to heal the prostate cancer.

We prayed, and we prayed, and we prayed. We just kept praying, until there were no more prayers left! We left no stone unturned, and made sure that anything that needed to be prayed for, regarding his health, was covered. After several hours of praying, the burden was finally lifted. There was a tangible sense of God's peace and favor.

I really sensed that God had heard our prayers.

But had God really heard our prayers? Well, as it turns out, yes, because the report came back later saying that Elias was healed! The cancer disappeared from his body.

Now even as we were speaking together that same day, I remembered the dream I had that same morning. That morning, I had had a dream that I went on a certain path, looking for something, but could not find it where I expected to find it, only to get back on the path, and find it at another location.

Wow, that dream had been from God. So God was actually telling me through the dream that this was going to happen on that day, but at the time, I didn’t realize what this dream was about. It was only after it came to pass that I understood it.

And to think that God used what was written on that small piece of paper to direct me. For you will recall that I had written down three things that I need to do. The first one I had written down was the oil change. And it turns out that was the very thing that God used to lead me straight to Elias. This was pretty amazing. For the Lord had evidently planned this out in advance. And such are the workings of God. His ways are certainly not our ways.

Why did God not simply tell me where to go? Why did he say, instead, “There is something you need to do?” I think that’s pretty fascinating. For the Lord knew that I would write it down on that piece of paper. The Lord had planned it out all in advance.

One might indeed have a lot of questions as to why God does the things that he does, sometimes. And while we might not always know the answer, we can always choose to respond in faith.

The Bible says,

“Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Thus, one of the prerequisites for doing anything with the Lord, is that we must have some faith (it might be small, but God can even do miracles with faith the size of a mustard seed, see Matthew 17:20).

Thus, I did what I could that day. When I heard the Lord speak to me, I immediately pulled the car over to the side of the road, and stopped what I was doing. Although I did not discern any other direct intervention (in the same way that he had told me that there was something I needed to do), he nevertheless was still there, leading me and guiding me.

Thus when the Lord says that you need to do something, that something is within reach. If he's not telling you directly what it is that needs to be done, then it's because there will be some other way to figure it out. And such was the case that day, for actually I knew I needed to get an oil change already.

It really does work that way often with the Lord. God doesn’t need to speak directly to us for everything. But he might do it from time to time.

I also distinctly noticed what I would call a supernatural presence during our prayer time that day. And even though I realize that some people are very skeptical about this, at the time, I prayed in tongues. It’s not because I actually wanted to pray in tongues, or that I even planned to pray in tongues, but because I felt the Lord leading me to pray in tongues.

Praying in tongues is found in the Bible. It is found in 1 Corinthians 14:14-15.

And so that is what happened. And it appeared that God himself was bringing this about. In other words, God was leading me to pray in tongues.

It was not as though I was trying to do anything special. But sometimes as you are praying, you might actually be led by the Holy Spirit to pray in tongues.

This happened that day, and I’m not saying it happens all the time. It certainly does not happen all the time with a sense of God leading very strongly like that. Although some people might pray in tongues, even if they do not feel strongly led.

Thus, if you examined the dream, and what happened, inasmuch as it came true, and the fact that Elias was at the second automotive shop, and not the first, and the resultant conversation, and then also his healing, it is very easy to see that God was very much involved in all of this.

Finally, I would like to share with you the testimony of Elias himself, which he penned several years later. He did this at a time when we were not even living in the same city. But evidently, he felt impressed to write this down. I did not ask him to write this in any way.

One day, Elias contacted me, and it was about four or five years later, and he sent me this testimony. And Elias has given me permission to publish it in this article. And so the following is Elias’s testimony:

“IF YOU WILL ASK ANYTHING IN MY NAME, I WILL DO IT.” (John 14:14)

In late September 2012, I was very stressed in my nerves and was afraid. I was worried about my children and my wife, saying, “Oh God, what should I do?” since I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The doctor asked me to come for more tests, but I didn’t go. I didn’t want to hear the bad news and what would happen to me and my family.

I was praying in the Catholic way, using the rosary and praying to the saints. That is how I was taught.

Still, I knew the Scriptures as I had read the Bible before that many times.

Back to September 2012.

At that time, I was working as a mechanic and asking God what to do.

And all of a sudden before the shop closed at 6 pm a customer and a friend came by. His name is Dan and he approached me and said, “Why am I here? I was going to the east side of the city but instead I have come west to you!”

I know brother Dan. He is devoted to Jesus and he is a man of prayer. I said, “Dan, I know why you came here. God sent you to me. I’ll close the shop and tell you my story.”

I told him what happened to me and he began to pray for 2 hours non-stop and he prayed in tongues. It was the first time I had ever heard anyone pray in tongues, and it was like a shock!

What was he saying?! I didn’t know anything about praying this way until 2016, when I was saved, and all my family, as well.

At that time, we all got baptized, and I began to pray in tongues, and began to praise the Lord every day and every minute!

After this long night of prayer, I went to the laboratory. I called the doctor’s office in order to make an appointment. I went to the doctor and I was confident that I had nothing.

The doctor took a look at the results and said, “I don’t understand. You have nothing! The reading is perfect!”

I smiled. I knew this was because of my Savior, my King, and my God, Jesus Christ.

Jesus said,

“If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14)

Amen!

I did the PSA test again, and then again two months later — and everything is perfect.

Hallelujah!

I am Elias, son of the Lord.

And so this ends Elias’s personal testimony. Praise the Lord, this man was healed, and it all started with a dream God gave me on that same day, followed by God speaking to me in the car, telling me to stop, because there was something I needed to do.

It was a simple word to be obeyed.

What can God do through a simple act of obedience in all of our lives? If we know him, and have trusted in him, then let us ask him to use us on a daily basis. He certainly wants to, and will, if we apply ourselves to being sensitive to his voice.

Jesus said,

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

But perhaps you are in the situation today, where you are not sure if you really know the Lord. Well, first, who is the Lord? I am speaking of the God of the Bible. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the same one who created Adam and Eve. He spoke with them in the Garden of Eden. So we know already that God is willing and able to speak with his creation, because he spoke with Adam and Eve.

But sadly, there have been many communication problems between God and his creation. And some say he doesn’t even exist. I imagine this must grieve God’s heart terribly, as he desires that all people would come to know him.

But how do we get to know him?

About two thousands years ago, God fulfilled a promise of sending the Messiah into the world. This Messiah is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who paid for our sins on the cross. And the Bible says that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. (See John 3:16)

How does it work? The answer is simple, but often confused. One verse in the Bible that helps us to explain it is the following. The Bible says,

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

God’s love is immeasurable, but we’ve all done things that have separated us from him. And if left to our own devices, we would remain separated from him for all eternity. This is not a good thing.

Despite all the things we like to do, there is actually one primary need which is actually greater than them all, and that need is to be brought back into relationship with God. For without the Lord, there is no hope beyond the grave.

And so while today, many people are making merry, and enjoying their lives, have they really considered what is going to happen beyond the grave? More than 150,000 people die each day, and one day it will be our turn. But will we be ready?

The good news is that we can be ready today. What would it take to be ready today? Well, it would take a change of heart. Rather than rebelling against God, and acting like he doesn’t even exist, we need to start recognizing him.

“But who is he?” you say.

That’s a good question.

There is one true God, the Bible says. All the others are idols. (See Psalm 96:5. See also Isaiah 43:10-11.)

The real God is the one who laid down his life for us. The real God is the one who loved us so much, that he gave Jesus Christ to die for us on a cruel cross.

The Bible says,

“For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a good person someone would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8)

How then would one get to know him? Well, the first place to start is to read his word, the Bible. For God will never act outside of the principles and teachings that are found in his word, the Bible. And so the more we begin to read the Bible, the more we will understand God.

Therefore, it is essential that each believer find a good church, where the Bible is truly honored as the word of God. Some churches do not honor the Bible as the word of God, so you need to be discerning. For there is deception in this world, as well.

And did you know that Jesus is coming back? And he says that his reward is with him.

Have you trusted in him yet? Seek him while he may be found.