"The Fuel Pump"

Stalled. In the worst of all places. In 5:00 traffic on the ramp from I-405 to the Sunset Freeway, in downtown Portland. We were on our way to the beach on a Friday afternoon, for a weekend retreat with some friends. And that’s when our van decided to stall. Horns were honking. People were glaring as they squeezed by us in one lane. People stopped and volunteered to call a tow truck. I didn’t say it, but I was thinking, “if I can’t afford to get my van repaired, I certainly can’t afford a tow truck”. Besides, I knew that given ten minutes and a gallon of cold water I could probably get it to running again.

How did I know that? Because this wasn’t the first time the van had stalled. And I had figured out that I could pour water over the front of the engine and cool it down enough to get it to start again. I had no idea what I was really doing. I lucked on to that. I never know what I am doing when it comes to auto repairs, it seems. But I was way too poor to take it to a mechanic and have it diagnosed. The one time I did they simply said, “Sorry, we can’t diagnose a problem when the problem isn’t acting up.”

Eventually the van stalled, and it wouldn’t start again. I was sitting in a store parking lot that time. Frustrated, at wits end. That’s when I finally decided to pray about it. I just sat there and told God how frustrated I was, how helpless and hopeless I felt, and asked him what I should do. Call a friend? Hitch a ride home? Tow it to a mechanic? That seemed pretty logical, since it was definitely acting up, so they should be able to diagnose the problem, now.

That’s when he told me the most simple, practical advice. He said, “the fuel pump.” I even got a picture in my mind how to test it to confirm for sure that the fuel pump was the problem. I got out my tool box and disconnected the fuel line from the fuel pump, on the side going to the carburetor. If I turned the engine over a few seconds the fuel pump should squirt gas out on the ground. If it was not working, no gas would squirt out.

Guess what? No gas. Problem solved. I put a new fuel pump on the van and no more stalling.

I learned a lesson that day. The Holy Spirit is not so spiritual that He can’t be practical and useful, too. Very practical. Very useful. I guess I had fallen into the trap of thinking that the Holy Spirit is only good for spiritual advice and understanding, for spiritual correction and rebuke, for spiritual guidance, and most importantly, for spiritual sealing for redemption.

I found out differently. Cars are my nemesis. I hate mechanical work, unlike most normal men. So I needed some help. All I had to do was be still and know that the God of all knowledge really is the God of all knowledge. And that he cares about my very real needs.

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

“Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7)