I love the feeling of driving off the lot in a brand new car. There is something about it that is special. That new car smell, new technology that the old car/truck didn’t have, and the pride that comes with driving that beautiful car or truck home for the first time is just second to none. That is until you get your first rock to the windshield, ding in the door from the grocery store parking lot, or fresh road tar from driving through the construction zone that wasn’t there the day before you made your new purchase. It’s funny how this changes the way we treat the car moving forward. Once we get over the fact that it won’t be perfect we don’t really care as much the next time something goes wrong. The new loses its luster really quickly.

Our spiritual lives can be compared to this new car feeling. As long as things are going well and in the order we feel they should be, we are happy and content with

God and his “plan” for our lives, but let his “plan” contain something unpleasant or difficult and our attitude can change all too quickly. We can begin to feel distant from God and all too often abandon our hope in his promises to take care of us in our times of need.

The opposite happens in 2 Kings chapter 4 when the Shunammite woman loses her son-the son that Elisha had promised she would have as a gift from God. Instead of turning away from God, she turns to him in her time of need. There’s no doubt she had to have been discouraged, but we can learn something from her response. She turns to God, not away from him. It is in times of great distress and discomfort that we need God most. I’ve come to believe we grow the closest in our relationship with God when we experience bad times and are forced with the choice to come closer to him or turn away-what will our response be the next time something goes wrong?