Driving

As we rely on Christ and are willing to do what He directs, we can find that God will give us not only creative ideas, but will equip us in order to carry them out. In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul writes that he prayed that we...
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

We can know that God is at work, and He empowers us in order to partner with Him, to be used by Him, in order to carry out what He has called us to do.  There is tremendous power available to us by the Holy Spirit, who also provides direction for us, based on the Word of God. We're told in James 1 that if we are lacking wisdom, we can ask God, who will provide the wisdom that is needed. He also equips us to do the works to which He has called us.

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We have been saved by Christ and equipped to serve Him - and to serve other people. Our works for Him follow our salvation by Him. Ephesians chapter 2 relates:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Eliot is quite the grillmaster, it seems - in 2019, he won a barbeque competition in South Carolina.  He used a portion of his prize money to help provide food for needy families at Thanksgiving that year.  He said, in a piece posted on the website, The Christian Heart:

I put together 217 boxes for families consisting of a turkey or ham, candied yams, rice and mac and cheese. After we got done distributing the boxes, there were still all sorts of families in the back of the line that didn’t get any food. And I noticed they were walking home. There was no public transportation, no Uber, no way to get anywhere unless they walked. Many of them had walked five miles to get in line for the food because they didn’t have a car. And now they had to walk several miles to return home. With no food.

At that point, he had a thought: "I wondered if I could take one of those cars that nobody wanted and fix it up for a family that had no means of transportation."  After all, he had 20 years of experience as a mechanic.  He offered a slab of ribs to anyone who donated a vehicle. Eliot writes about that first "broken down" car:

I towed it to my yard and worked on it at night for several weeks, and then gave it to a lady in that area who had close to nothing. It’s hard to describe her expression, the sheer joy on her face. She said she could now drive her kids to the beach so they all could see it for their very first time. And that beach was only 20 miles away.

She told me I had changed her life.

I longed to see that joy on another face and knew I had to keep doing this. So I did. I continued to offer a slab of ribs for any car that wouldn’t run. And several other people donated their broken vehicles. I would tow them to my yard and start working on them. And cars continued to come available.

Since then, he and his colleague, who had lost his job during the pandemic, have restored over 60 vehicles. He states:

The Lord has truly blessed me. I don’t know if it’s because of what I’m doing for others but it is amazing what is happening. After winning that cookoff in late 2019, I opened up a drive-thru barbecue restaurant. Unfortunately, it turned out to be just a couple weeks before the pandemic hit. While most businesses struggled, our drive thru business kept plugging along and growing. Five months ago, we added an outside dining area. People are loving our food, and we’ve been doing better every month.

Eliot says, "I am used to seeing a need and asking God how I can help meet that need."

So, we can ask ourselves, "What is the need around me?" And, then consider how we can help.  Sometimes, you are equipped and positioned to do it; perhaps you can point someone in the right direction.  

I do believe that Eliot is demonstrating His obedience to God and love for Him by reflecting His image - he is involved in restoring things that are broken, and then people can use them.  God repairs us, as well - for we are broken, bound in sin, but Jesus has come to set us free, mend us and heal us, and use us for His purposes.

We can also make sure that our minds are clear and our hearts are open to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  God gave Eliot an idea and he took action in obedience to God.  We can rely on the promptings of our Creator God in order to give us ideas that can be used for His Kingdom work.

While Faith Radio is not in the auto-repair business, we do offer you an opportunity to be involved in supporting the repairing of lives through donating a vehicle that you no longer are using.  Maybe it is not in very good condition - that donation can be used to help bring God's life-changing truth to people potentially all around the world.  You can learn more through our website at FaithRadio.org.