Freed

Many people ask how can they discern God’s will in their life decisions. This is a truly important question if we are trying to live our lives according to His will in the first place, because we need to know what He wants us to do in specific situations.

While I’m certain there are prophetic people who can get visions or hear instructions from above or in their dreams etc 99.9% of us are not so blessed and will struggle to discern.

I’ve just gone through one period of discernment over a very mundane topic of choosing a car (which is a big decision in this country!). But by sharing it, I hope it can inspire you to “look out” for the signs when God gives them to you.

In Landings we call these “Godmoments”.

It all started with a need to get a larger car that can seat 7 people because my parents’ car will be expiring in a few months, and we didn’t want to renew it as my Dad is getting on in his years and his reflexes etc are not as sharp as before.

I’m a person who likes driving and getting a car which I’d approve of in terms of looks and drive etc is something that has always been the case with all previous cars I owned. But for now, I wanted to see what God has in mind. So I prayed about it a few weeks back specifically on a Saturday night.

On Sunday morning, I was woken by some messages on the phone asking me for which car dealer I used in the past because apparently, I told person A about their unique benefits and person A has through the years mentioned in to person B. So person B texted me because she needed some repair work done and person A was asleep at that point and was not responding. This was Godmoment #1 because normally, my phone would also not have beeped but for some reason, the setting was switched off and it beeped and I found myself typing the URL to the car dealer and sending it across to person B first thing that morning.

So after the signal that I should purchase something from this dealer again, we made a trip down to it a week later and the salesman showed us some options, including a Honda Freed which didn’t really excite me. I was eyeing a more luxurious European model, but the base model didn’t have power seats, nor power mirrors and the extra seats at the end could only fit dwarves. So that seemed out of the question.

They did not have particular Honda model, and told me to feel free to look at it elsewhere but he did say the seats were quite cramped as well.

So fast forward two weeks later, we had a day off and went to the Honda dealership, but lo and behold! As I stopped just outside at a traffic light, the song on my radio started playing “Great Big No” by the Lemonheads. So that was Godmoment #2.

We checked out the car, and indeed the seats were cramped, but the salesman offered a good deal on my trade-in value.

In the meantime, my cousin has told me about another European make she was driving and we did go check it out and felt it was quite nice looking and functional and was marginally more expensive than the Freed. And I was in two minds, undecided.

But God seemed to have something in mind, because on that day, a reflection piece showed up on my WhatsApp with these verses:

Today’s Psalm
A voice I did not know said to me: ‘I freed your shoulder from the burden; your hands were freed from the load. You called in distress and I saved you. Psalm 80(81):6

Godmoment #3.

As I was not keen to rush to change cars since I really didn’t fancy the car, I wanted to let this decision simmer. But the Honda Freed salesman, did his job on a Saturday afternoon and texted me if I was still looking for a car? I told him people were offering much higher for my trade-in and if he could match it, we’ll consider.

So he took my offer and increased his bid and the rest is history.

In my reflection on the whole episode, I felt that God was training me to let go of my needs and wants and worldly desires. I did not need a nice looking car, I did not need a great brand to own, I just needed 7-seats!

And hence, I was “freed” from this material desire.