Our New Car, Being Stopped by Japanese Police and Casting Your Cares

Guess who now has a car... Praise the Lord great things He has done. A car to take us around, giving us so much more independence and comfort... :) :)


So, on our very first 'trip' in our car (hubby came to pick me up from work), we were subjected to questioning from the police. According to them, they were curious... the license plate is from another city. (We just purchased the vehicle; the paperwork to change license etc. have not been dealt with yet). But I say, their so-called reason is rubbish.

Had it not been two (black) foreigners in the car, they wouldn't have bothered us. We could have been tourists. I thought to myself that what if we had driven to some other place in Japan for a visit? Am I then supposed to be nervous about being stopped because our license plate is different? Can you see how it doesn't make any sense?! And hubby said that they did it quite often, stop the black man riding his bicycle.

May this anger not stay with me. Lord, please help me not to remain upset. When I'm driving in the vehicle that You have blessed me with, I shouldn't have to feel nervous and uncomfortable. It's not fair and it's not right.... It makes me think about the persons in a certain country, a name I will not call, who have to face this sort of thing and worse because of the color of their skin. People should not have to live in that state of fear!

In all fairness, this sort of thing happens in Jamaica all the time. People are stopped by the police for insane reasons and made to even pay tickets which are quite questionable...

In other 'news', I'm sort of in one of those seasons where the expenses are more than what is available to take care of them. Ever been in one of those? I have been feeling overwhelmed as a result. But I have been remembering a preacher (Joyce Meyers is her name) who spoke about the rough years in her life - years when she had to depend on God to meet their monthly needs. She spoke about how she would sit and worry about their bills; while her husband would simply 'cast his cares'. I thought to myself, how I could develop that 'cast your cares attitude'. I decided to say a prayer:

Dear Lord. I am really overwhelmed by the expenses ahead. I feel angry too. I have faithfully saved. And even as I note that, I am reminded that I have faithfully tithed too. And according to your word, I am to receive an outpouring of blessings that I will not have room to contain. Lord let this anxiety, worry and fear not stay with me. I am imagining looking back at this time and saying to myself, see how I was worrying for nothing. Thank you for your provision, mercy, favor and grace. This I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, I prayed that prayer in simple, child-like faith. Perhaps you need to say a prayer of your own for whatever thing you may be facing in your life right now. Prayer is the easiest thing to do, but sometimes we don't really do it. I guess it seems too simple for the 'big' problem we seem to be facing. But it is the best thing we can do, and really should be our first line of action.

Thanks as always for reading. See you next time.

Why is this happening to me?

When the jailer, startled out of his sleep, saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, because he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. (Acts 16:27 AMP)

I remember what my Pastor here said about a missionary being sick; they all prayed and prayed but nothing changed. She had to be hospitalized. While they visited her, there was a man who was also admitted to the hospital who saw them and asked them to come and visit him, too. When the woman was released, they still visited the man. He later became saved. A family member of the man was also saved. Another man who was staying in the same room told them, "Don't just pray for him. Pray for me, too." He and another family member also got saved. 

God used a negative situation - sickness - for His glory. He did the same in the case of Paul and Silas. The keeper of the prison got saved; he and his family. 

There are some situations that I really don't like. One of them is when I have 6 classes at elementary school. It can get pretty exhausting. (I intend to from now on however, speak those things that be not as though they were. Therefore, instead of talking about how exhausting it is, I'm going to start saying, "Nothing is too much for me. I run and never get weary. I walk and do not faint."). But I wonder what God would like to do through these uncomfortable situations. 

Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises. They got a breakthrough - literally! And it set the scene for God to work. It's good to remember these scriptures in tough times. Instead of whining and feeling sorry for myself, I need to praise and pray.