….for the Lord your God, goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

It is Sunday evening as I attempt to write something coherent. This morning, as we climbed into our cold car to turn on the seat warmers and leave for church, our battery was completely dead. We quickly switched everything over to our equally cold truck, no warmers there, and made our way from Clever to Nixa and arrived just as the last service was beginning.

Once there, we enjoyed the music shared by our very gifted praise band and relaxed a bit, even though we were still pretty cold. The Spirit of the Lord quickly warmed us inside as we joined in the singing. Following the service, we visited with a few people and headed back home to deal with the very dead battery.

In years past, Ken could take an engine apart and reassemble it, but he doesn’t even recognize the engine parts in today’s complicated vehicles. Add to that the fact that we have a Prius hybrid, and the picture becomes even more complicated. The first order of business was to locate the battery, the one that powers the combustion part of the engine. The owner’s manual gave him good directions. The next step was to make some calls to hopefully locate an available battery. On the second call, Ken found a battery and also learned that the parts dealer would install it.

That turned out to be a bit misleading, as the young man assigned to the task had never changed a battery in a Prius. Good thing Ken had read that manual, so as he provided instructions, the younger man provided the muscle. And before too long, Ken and the car were back home, and it was running well. We’ll have to reserve judgment as to whether or not all the electronic systems are in proper sync.

But our car wasn’t the only thing not working properly. While Ken was gone, I suffered a little meltdown of my own. The dead car battery was just the last straw in a long list of worries and misgivings that had been piling up on my heart. I turned my tearstained face to Jesus and told Him that my spiritual well was as empty as the cells in that battery. I couldn’t find myself in the chaos of these challenging times we live in. It seemed as if the battles were just too hard. Worst of all, I couldn’t find words to write, I couldn’t even find words for Him. Words are my God-given gift, and I was bereft of them. Empty. My spiritual well was dry.

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny who he is. II Timothy 2:13

In my moment of need, the Holy Spirit stepped in, and as Jesus began to soothe my jangled nerves and remind me that He is always right beside me, I began to feel His sweet peace flow through me, and I realized that having no words gave me something to write about. I guess this has been a somewhat different kind of message, but it certainly comes from the heart. We all have times when our well runs dry, but thankfully, we have a Friend who helps us to get our act together and find hope in the little things, like the saga of a dead component in a car that found new life with a simple battery replacement.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you (and me) will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6