Laughing It Up at the Pump!

Just a few days ago a friend posted her exceptionally high gas bill in all its blazing glory as it appeared on the pump. It was indeed a horrid sight, and touched a surging pain with which most of us can empathize. Living seventeen hours away from family in Texas gives the pump an added connotation of evil for me--in fact, I envision it with ugly green horns and a snarky red tail, all the markings of a new impediment to a quick trip to my Texas friends and family.

Ah … but yesterday …

The gas pump picture hovered over my mind all day, picking mercilessly at my sense of peace. I nodded ruefully, wishing that Grandma's miracle of never-ending flour and lard until God miraculously provided money for groceries had included other things as well. "Too bad Grandma didn't have the same thing happen with gas. It would have been such a great encouragement to me in these times," I lamented to myself. Then--I remembered! A gas miracle had happened in our family, but not to Grandma, to Auntie!

Pemex, the Mexican owned gas company, the one and only to be found in Mexico, came into being by presidential decree in 1938. Pemex gas stations began blooming all over the country--but they were few and far between. Missionaries traveling anywhere in Mexico, even in the late 1970s, had to know where they were and plan trips accordingly. God forbid you ran out of gas between stations! Then you would be up the proverbial creek--with miles to go before you could fill up your gas can and hightail it back to your car! Even in the 1980s when we lived in Cd. Victoria, Mexico, a city whose population in 1985 boasted 166,000, there were only five gas stations to serve the entire city. To get a better perspective of what this means, look at Brownsville, Texas, with a comparable population of 167,4893. This Texas city has at least 72 gas stations. Compare that to the five Cd. Victoria had in the 80s. Quite a telling difference!

Well, on one of her ministry trips before I went to work with her, Auntie was driving home from another city when she suddenly realized that she had failed to plan the route as well as she should--and she was definitely going to run out of gas before she arrived at the next available gas station. Woman, at night, stranded on the side of the road … in Mexico (and probably anywhere else), a recipe ripe for disaster. Forget being stranded--that would have been the least of her worries. Unscrupulous men were well-known to take advantage of stranded travelers and happily relieve them of any and all resalable goods they might possess. Auntie started praying. And praying. And praising.

And the car kept running, even when the fuel gage passed the E in empty. It was with an extremely grateful-to-God sigh of relief that Auntie finally pulled into the next gas station. It was a mistake she took great care not to repeat ever again!

The memory of this Auntie-story pulled my mouth into a smile and wiped the frown from my forehead. It was just what the doctor ordered--a remembrance of God's faithfulness in the face of scarcity of gas.

And then, to top it all off, this verse popped into my head: "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision," Psalm 2:4.

The devil is getting down and dirty, doing all kinds of horrible things these days. But his days--and his powers--are numbered. Remember when he maneuvered people and circumstances to get Jesus to the cross? He thought he had killed God's son. He thought his best-laid plans had come to fruition. What he didn't know was that those plans came about only because God our Father allowed them to. In His infinite wisdom, God orchestrated glory from tragedy--our enemy's most dastardly deed was the lynchpin for God's greatest triumph. Yes, Jesus died, but only because He offered Himself as a sacrifice. And He did not remain in the grave! On the third day He rose again, defeating sin and death (I John 1:7; Hebrews 2:14)! The enemy's supposed victory turned out to be his greatest folly!

Our nemesis, in his present throes of evil, is seeking to imbue the residents of earth, and especially those called by the holy name of God, with paralyzing fear. And the means he is using is war, with all its ensuing pains and ramifications--one of which is rising gas prices. But He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh! He shall have his enemies in derision! The enemy thought he had Jesus by the throat--but in actuality he didn't! Jesus' heel ended up on his throat! Even so, now that the fear of spiraling prices and exorbitant gas threatens to paralyze us--instead of cowering we should laugh! The devil is doing it again! He thinks he has thrown us a winning curve ball, but WE, those who belong to Jesus, sit in the heavens with our Father God! We are sitting in the seat of victory! These difficulties are transient, temporary, and in God's perfect time we will have the victory over them! We can laugh, laugh, laugh, because the high prices are NOT the end of the story! God will be glorified! His children will be cared for!

The God who carried Auntie with her empty tank of gas to safety has not changed--and He is OUR God. We can rest and trust in Him that all will be okay. Maybe not when we want. Maybe not how we want. But we will have the victory!

I think I'll pack my bags for Texas. My trip is coming!