It was mile 5060 of the trip to Tennessee. We had just driven miles and miles (over 500) through a lot of Texas nothing when it happened. The check engine light came on. Never a good sign.

My cousin was driving, so I took our hotel in Las Cruces, NM off the GPS and quickly plugged in Toyota dealership in El Paso. There it was. Twelve miles up the road, first exit, and then less than a mile and right on the frontage road. That was the good part, but would anyone be able to help us? It was three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon.


We pulled in, went inside, and asked for help. When I told Fernando (I later learned his name) about the check engine light, his eyes grew wide. “That’s not good,” he said from behind his mask. I already knew that, but he wasn’t helping. He disappeared to get a sensor.

The issue was with the timing, but we hadn’t had any timing issues. The car was running fine. He told us sometimes something can just get on the timing mechanism and can cause the light to come on. Was that what was happening here? He didn’t know and there was no one in the department to run a diagnostic. We had two options: We could stay in El Paso until Monday and they could look at it, or he could reset it and we could just see if the light came on again. If it did, and no little shudders or reduction in speed occurred, we could just keep on driving. If timing issues did occur, we had options up the road: Limp into Tucson or Phoenix. After that there was nothing until we passed through the California deserts.

Three women with no car knowledge. Hmmm. But we did know we needed to get home, and so anything closer to California was good. We opted for the reset and prayed. We made it home with no issues. Sorry if you were looking for a more dramatic ending.

But God’s intervention was dramatic.

I have absolutely no idea why He allowed that engine light to come on, especially since there still doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the car. But He did, and he waited until after  500 miles of desolation and until we were twelve miles from civilization to alert us, and then He provided a dealership right on the highway, thereby lessening the panic.

Was there something up ahead He wanted us to avoid? Did He want us to slow down after hours of an 85 mile-an-hour speed limit? (We never went 85 but we certainly did now slow down out of caution.) Had he wanted us to meet real people in El Paso since all of our knowledge of that city had to do with border issues? Did He want us to meet Fernando specifically?

Again, I have absolutely no idea and probably won’t this side of heaven. BUT, I will tell you what I do know. That little incident refocused all three of us our very real and a very personal God, who takes you through desolate times and then places what you need right when and where you need it--even if you don't know why.

Well, it happened again.

I turned the calendar from May to June and the temperature made its move from the high 80s/low 90s straight to the 100+ mark. I’m not sure why I’m surprised. It happens every year, and the weather gurus warned us it was coming. I guess I was just hoping that this year might be different. That spring would last a little bit longer and that summer wouldn’t come in quite as hot. But that is like thinking that people intuitively know how to stop a Segway or that hitting the elevator button multiple times will actually make it arrive faster. It just ain’t gonna happen. Heat is just a part of where I live.

As humans we often wonder/question why certain things do happen. Why young people have life threatening illnesses. Why good people lose their jobs. Why we are having certain problems.  We question the fairness of it. We question the sense in it. We question and question.

As Christians, we sometimes, in the back of our minds, feel we should be immune from some of these harsh realities because “God’s got our back,” and we will escape unscathed. But we aren’t. Just like the heat comes to the Northstate on the heels of May, so trials and troubles come to everyone in a world that is fallen.  

In fact, nowhere in the Bible (please correct me if I am wrong) could I find anything that said we would not face troubles and trials. Instead, I found the promise that we would face them.

“In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33)

Or as Peter told the Christians of his day, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (I Peter 4:12)

Peter reminded his fellow believers that not only would Christians face the troubles that beset the entire human race, but as followers of Christ, they would experience some added heat.

But what I also found was the promise that God was and is always there during these times.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1-3)

“The Lord is . . . a stronghold in times of trouble.” (Psalm 9:9-10)

But the absolute clincher is the rest of John 16:33 which I have bolded.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble . . . But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Now that should provide permanent relief from the heat.