“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him” (1 Samuel 3:7).
Charis, my sixteen-year-old daughter at the time, was now driving age. She had saved her hard-earned money to match her father’s contribution to buy her first car. It was time to begin the hunt. I told her that we needed to pray for God to lead us to that perfect car. She was excited about the possibilities.
I began combing the newspaper and internet to find the right car. We prayed we would find the right car, even in the gray or silver color and model that she wanted. Finally, after several weeks, she got discouraged and began to tear up, “We will never find a car for this price.” I told her the car was out there, but it was not God’s time yet. We had to be patient to allow God to provide in His time, not ours. This didn’t go over well with a teenager.
Finally, one day I came upon a car that seemed like it fit our criteria. I called the owner. The parents of the boy who owned it answered the call and gave me more information. I liked the parents right away. They had a nice “spirit” about them. We drove over to the house and there in the front yard was a silver sports car – the model she had been looking for, complete with a fantastic stereo and speaker system. We noticed a small fish symbol on the back bumper, which indicated the owner may have been a Christian. “These people appear to be believers!” I exclaimed to my daughter.
We met them and talked about price. It was a little higher than our budget. We asked if they could meet our price. They did. My daughter had her new car with a personal imprint from God to show my daughter that He was the source of the new car.
One of the most important roles you and I have as parents is to transfer our faith to our children. There comes a time when our children need to take ownership of their own faith in the Lord, rather than living off mom or dad’s faith. Today, consider how to pass your faith to your children.
