IN FAVOR WITH GOD AND MAN

     Blessings come out of nowhere and overtake us! I am in awe of God and the thing He does for His children because He loves us.
     Yesterday I got into my car, eager to go on an afternoon jaunt to run errands. The notification that came on the lighted display on my car said that I had low tire pressure. It had notified me of that caution a couple of days previously and my son had aired up the offending tire. There was the same message again in lights so that I couldn’t miss it.
     As is my habit when that caution occurs, I got out of the car and visually checked the tires. There it was, a tire completely flat on the right front of the car, which necessitated another call to my son to come and more adequately assess the situation when he left work.
     “Yeah, Mom, it’s completely flat,” was his complete assessment. He got the spare tire out of the back of the MKX and proceeded to change the flat tire to the spare tire. However, the spare seemed in need of a little bit of air also, so Son took the spare to the local Kum and Go convenience store to air up the spare tire since I would be driving on it to take the flat one to the tire repair shop.
     That was not completely accomplished because the air hose at the convenience store had a weird nozzle on it and Son felt like he had let more air out of the spare tire than he had put in it.
     We decided after conferring a minute to go ahead and have him put the spare on the car so that I could go the next morning to a local tire repair shop in town and have the flat tire repaired and put back on the car.
      After successfully putting the spare tire on the car, My son reminded me that I must drive carefully on it to the tire store the next day because of the tire not being completely inflated. He even told me the most direct route to drive in case the spare also became flat. I appreciated the advice.
     Rising a little earlier the next morning, I called the tire repair shop and told the owner my dilemma, that the big tire was completely flat and needed to be fixed, and that the spare might get me there on a wing and a prayer. The owner said to come right on and he would do what was necessary.
     It happened exactly like what I had said to the owner, I got there on lots of prayer and the wings of the angels. The car had a definite tilt to the right and the steering wheel felt like it was being tugged to the right side. But, I got there safely, driving the speed my son suggested and driving the route that he advised.
     The owner told me to take a seat in the office and he would assess the situation. I made my way to the office and admired the typical office of a mechanic/tire shop owner. While I waited, I learned some things about cars because the owner was occupied by receiving the money from other customers whose cars had been fixed. The owner gave them instructions on how to avoid problems in the future, which I was privy to the advice and will remember.
     I began to relax and enjoy the new surroundings, which were very masculine with manly smells. It smelled of oil, grease and coffee, a good combination.
     About an hour later, the owner came back into the office. I was ready for the news, maybe news of needing a new tire because a screw was visibly sticking out of the rubber. After all, the tire was completely flat. Instead of bad news, the owner said, “Okay, you’re fixed up.”
     I asked how much I owed him. He said, “Nothing. You’ve been good customers for a long time. You owe me nothing.’
     “You’ll never make money that way, Ryan,” I said. “I need to pay you for your services. You made my burden lighter today.”
    He replied, “I said your car is ready and you don’t owe me anything.” I almost kissed him but there were three workmen who could observe us, so I just thanked him profusely and thanked God all the way to the car.
     When I got into the car, these words came to my mind, “Now you know the truth behind the scripture, 'Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature and in favor with God and man.'” I always knew about the favor of God, but I never thought about the end of that scripture, in favor with man. I had a new insight into a scripture, that when we increase in love and wisdom, we increase in favor with men as well as with God.
     Tears began to come to my eyes, that God would have that sweet man honor me with his favor. I could tell that he delighted in doing the job for me with no requirement of reimbursement. He was joyful in his giving to me. I was in awe of God’s favor and a man’s favor.
     Leaving the tire repair shop, I was in such awe that I just thanked God over and over, just like I had thanked the owner over and over.
     Later, as I walked into my favorite retail store for an errand, I noticed two of the workers were doing a hard job of moving some equipment. I located what I was needing, took the article to the checkout stand and joked to the checker that she must be acting as boss for the day because the job she and the other checker were doing looked like something the boss would do.
     The checker commented that she works well with the other lady because they are always in agreement. We both quoted the scripture, “Where two or three agree, a thing is established,” at the same time.
     The checker was delighted to find a new friend with which to share her love for God. She asked how I was doing that day and I told her that I had just been blessed with the favor of God and the favor of man. She asked me to tell her the whole testimony. Fortunately the store had just opened and I was the only customer there. I told her what the owner of the tire shop had done for me and then I told her the revelation that came to me about favor with God AND with man. She was elated, said she is going to remember that forever.
     The checker said, “When you walked in the door I thought, look, she has on a jacket of many colors much like Joseph in the Bible with his coat of many colors .” She said, “I didn’t know that God was going to send you with a testimony this morning when I told Him that I wanted to do His will today. “ She said, “He sent you to me with an uplifting thing that is fresh and just happened.  It taught me a lesson also.”
    A new friend named Amy was my bonus for the day, too, one who shares my love for God and marvels at His goodness.
    The favor with God and man continues to bless us. I learned something new today about favor and passed it on to Amy who was delighted to incorporate it into her life.
Amy and I are in agreement, too, so our love for God is established.
     I wonder what blessing God has for Ryan, the owner of the tire store. He was the epitome of giving with a joyful heart. I could see it on his face. He kind of glowed like an angel. One wouldn’t expect to see that in a tire store that smelled like oil, grease and coffee.