Priscilla's Purse Ministries International

Joyce Humphrey says:

Not Your Ordinary Testimony

Lord what in the world is this about? You said if I brought in Your entire tithe and offering, You would rebuke the devourer for my sake. You said I would be blessed coming in and going out. You said everything I put my hands to do shall prosper. You said I would be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. You said blessings would chase me down. You said that You are not a man that You should have to lie or the Son of man that You should have to repent. So why did my transmission go out? Why am I stranded in Illinois, out here on I-294 with my 76-year-old mother, 15-year-old son and 6-year-old granddaughter? Why did this have to happen when my husband Ventson is on a three-day training session with his unit in the National Guard? Why have you left me out here helpless when You said You would never leave me nor forsake me?

My Isuzu truck is eight years old and has over 90,000 miles on it. My vehicle owner’s manual was sitting on my computer table at home. I could see it plainly but it was not with me. My husband’s sister, Cynthia, lived about 30 miles from where my truck broke down. We had not seen her in about 10 years, but Ventson was able to get a hold of her and she came and picked us up. I did not have enough money on my MasterCard to get a rental car, much less a hotel room, so we ended up spending the night with her. She was a gracious host. She went out of her way to make us all feel comfortable. This is no small feat when it comes to pleasing my mother. While everyone slept, I went on her computer to look for an Isuzu dealership. The only thing that came up was car sales; I ended up finding a transmissions shop that offered free towing and free estimates. My sister-in-law drove me back to my vehicle to wait for Tom, the tow truck driver to show up. When he came, we followed him to the transmissions’ place. The mechanic, Jon, checked it and told me there was no way it would make it back to Michigan. He gave me an estimate, a $500-$700 and up cost to repair my truck, but he would need to remove my transmission before he could give me the actual cost. I told him to get started. Driving back to my sister-in-law’s house, I started thanking God for a good report from the mechanic and I thanked Him, for my sister-in-law. A few hours later Jon called and told me that it would cost $2010.40 to fix my transmission. Up until this moment, I continued to thank God for being my Provider and for taking such good care of us. I was standing and having done all to stand, continued to stand on His Word and on His promises. Up until now…..but when Jon told me that the cost would be the same as the year (2010) plus forty cents…..I started crying. By the time, I went in the house to tell my mother and sister-n-law, I was really crying. Now instead of singing Jehovah Jireh, My Provider….I was crying “Oh My God! Where are we going to get $2010.40? How are we going to get back home? What are we going to do?”

By the time I got a hold of my husband, I was able to get my emotions in check, but he knew I was upset. When I told him, he told me exactly what I needed to here. “Joyce, don’t worry, God will make away.” Tell Jon to fix it.

Back home. A neighbor suggested we look in my vehicle owner’s manual to see if the transmission was still under warranty. My immediate response was…”What for? It cannot be. I have had my truck for eight years. It has over 90,000 miles on it! Okay, fine; I’ll check.”
It was right where I had left it. I picked it up from my computer table. Opened it up to page 10 and read, “Your transmission is fully covered for 120 months and/or 120 thousand miles, which ever comes first. If your vehicle breaks down anywhere in the US, please call this 1-800 # for an Isuzu Dealership closest to you. Your Isuzu warranty covers the cost to tow your vehicle to the nearest Isuzu Dealership that will repair your vehicle; it covers the cost of your hotel room if you are stranded away from home; and if you need a rental vehicle, it covers the entire time it takes to repair your vehicle.” My heart sank. I literally started to feel sick to my stomach. I could not believe what I was reading. I felt so dumb; I did not want to tell my husband. I immediately went from thinking how blessed we were because we had the money to pay the $2010.40, bill to feeling like I was the “stupidest” person on earth.

Then I remembered the mechanic, Jon, had told me that Isuzu had gone out of business. Thinking maybe my owner’s manual was no longer valid; I decided to call the 1-800 #. The man over the phone was so nice. When I told him that my transmission had gone out on highway, I-294. He asked me where I was so he could send a tow truck to pick up my vehicle. Then he asked me if I needed a rental vehicle and a place to stay for the night. Tears started rolling down my cheeks. I started mumbling, “It’s too late” over the phone. He said “Miss, what do you mean? It is not too late! It is all covered and I will have someone over to pick you and your family up right away. If your vehicle needs a new transmission, it’ll take about a week to get it in, but your warranty covers the cost of your rental vehicle for as long as it takes to repair your vehicle.” He said, “Miss where is your vehicle?” And I began to explain to him that I had left my owner’s manual at home and didn’t have the 1-800 # to call and had had it already towed to a local transmission shop. The phone went quiet and he said, “Miss, your warranty is only good if you have your vehicle repaired by an Isuzu Dealership. If you have it repaired anywhere else, your Isuzu warranty is automatically nullified.” I replied, “As I said….it is too late and hung up the phone.”

When I got up the courage to tell my husband, he said, “Wow, God must really be trying to show us something”. I started crying….again. He said, “Joyce, God has blessed us! We not only have the $2010.40, but we can pay it in cash? God is still on our side. He did not let us down. And I refuse to let the devil steal my joy over the miracle of us actually having over $2000 in the bank!”

Two days went by and I was still struggling with why this happened. I kept re-living all my steps. Actually grieving over everything that had transpired. I kept thinking if only I had my vehicle owner’s manual in the car like it was supposed to be. I kept wondering why when I checked the Isuzu website on my sister-in-law’s computer; it did not bring up the 1-800 # to call or Dealership locations. Worst yet is that I kept seeing my vehicle owner’s manual sitting on my computer table. Yes we had the money, but my son’s school tuition was also due. It just seemed like such a waste. Finally, I cried out to the Lord….” Why did You allow this to happen to us? What did we do wrong? Lord, You said You would supply all of our needs according to Your riches and glory by Christ Jesus! JESUS WE NEEDED TO KEEP THAT $2010.40. Please talk to me! I do not understand!”

I am a professional gardener. This means I am paid to do what I love to do. It is something about digging in the dirt. I often think if Eve had been working in the dirt, she would not have had the time to stop and talk to a snake. Nonetheless, often times it is when I am working quietly in the garden that my Heavenly Father will answer and reveal things to me. In this case, He reminded me that He is My Provider and $2010 and 40 cents meant absolutely nothing to Him. I’m feeling a little rebuke coming. Next He said:

As bad as you feel about having to pay to have your truck fixed and knowing had you only taken it to Isuzu to have it fixed, it would have been free, imagine how those who believe they can enter heaven without accepting My Son, Jesus will feel when I tell them to depart from Me I never knew you. Many will come to Me in their day of judgment, trying to explain why they did not think they needed to accept My Son. Many will tell me that they were lied to by their pastor. They were fooled into thinking that as long as they tried to be good, they went to church, they did not lie or steal and they believed I existed, they would be able to make My Heaven, their home. Imagine how many times they too will be able to see the Owner’s Manual, (HOLY BIBLE) I prepared for them to be able to enter into the joy of Their Lord and they chose not to read it. Imagine how many times they will remember how close they came to picking it up just before they went to bed…How many times they promised Me they were going to start reading and studying My word…How many times they meant to remember to bring it to work and read it during their lunch break…How many times they kept putting off saying “Jesus, please forgive me. I repent of all my sins. I believe You died for me and rose again on the third day. Please come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. Joyce, what is having to spend $2010.40 in comparison to having to spend eternity in Hell? Does not My word say, ‘You have been bought with a price? You are not your own. All things work together for good, for those who love Me and are the called according to My purpose.’ Did you not pray to ME saying ‘Father, who art in Heaven, Holy is Your Name? Your kingdom come, Your will be done…’ the day the transmission went out on your truck? This testimony is not for you it is for those who think I am going to let them enter Heaven without them accepting My Son. It is for you to tell them that just like Isuzu would only honor the warranty on your transmission if you had it repaired by them, I will only honor the warranty My Son purchased for their SOUL, if they come to Me through Him. Tell them, if they try to come to Me in any other way, they will be considered a thief and a robber. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS.”

The following Monday, Ventson and I went and picked up my truck. I wished the story ended here but it does not. The following day, I had to make another delivery drive back to Illinois. On the way home, stopping for gas, my truck would not go into gear. When I tried to put it in park, it went into reverse. When I put it in reverse, it went forward. I had to pull the key out of the ignition and shift it into park to get it to stop moving. I thought I was stuck in the twilight zone. I called the mechanic, Jon, and told him what happened. He sent the same tow truck driver, Tom, to pick me and my vehicle up. I noticed he had a cross hanging from his rear view mirror and by the time he hitched up my vehicle and climbed into the tow….I was ripe. I asked him if he were a real Christian or was the cross just for show. He paused and said he was a real Christian. I told him he must be important because this was the second time in a week my vehicle had broken down and God allowed our paths to cross. Then he started to share his faith with me. He said he used to be Catholic, but they had too many rules. Since my pastor had also been a catholic, I shared his testimony of how he came to accept Jesus. Tom then told me that he did not believe a person needed to go to church or be a part of any particular religion in order to go to heaven. “Oh my goodness Lord, You have got to be kidding” I said to myself as Tom continued telling me he believed as long as you were a good person and you believed that there was a “God” it did not matter what you called Him.

I shared the above testimony with Tom. Then I asked him if he had ever accepted Jesus in his heart. He was a little vague so I went over the Sinner’s Prayer with him just in case. By the time we made it back to the transmissions shop, the expression on Tom’s face was that of shear fear. He could barely look at me, but the seed had been planted. After hearing my Isuzu testimony, he would never be the same. Now that I have shared it with you, I suspect you too will never be the same. Just think, now I am able to say it only cost me $2010.40 to fix my truck. The price Jesus paid cost Him His life, but it not only fixes your heart today, you get full coverage benefits for all eternity. Just think how awful you will feel if you neglect to accept God’s gift of love, His only begotten Son.

Please…..it only takes a few minutes. Just say:

“Dear Lord, Jesus, please forgive me. I repent of all my sins. I believe from my heart, that You died for me and rose again on the third day. Please come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior.” Amen.

Kasyna Internetowe says:

Interesting article. Were did you got all the information from?