God Works on Refrigerators

One of the greatest joys in trusting God to provide our needs is actually getting to see Him do it. Recently, we got to see the Lord take care of our refrigerator.

This year at Christmas, we had a very busy household--much busier than usual for us--with lots of people coming and going. We were looking forward to enjoying several meals with extended family and having large groups in our home. The night before our first guest was to arrive, I was up late working and getting ready when I noticed that our refrigerator had stopped cooling. Not only was this really inconvenient because it was well after midnight, but also because we had two big meals planned for the next day for friends and family. I had a large amount of food in my refrigerator just waiting for the next day.

I must say that I was frustrated, because not only was I very tired by this time of day, but I didn't want to have to go find a refrigerator on Christmas Eve and still have to prepare two meals. It was cold outside, so I knew I could just put things there, but that would be a lot of work which I really didn't want at the time. I just stopped, and partly out of exhaustion, and partly out of frustration, I just prayed to the Lord and asked Him if He couldn't just make the refrigerator work just until the holidays were over. With the faith that I had, I just left the refrigerator and kept working awhile and came back. I was delighted when I came back right before I was ready for bed and saw that the thermometer showed the refrigerator to be very cold--almost too cold. The end of the story is that the refrigerator worked wonderfully through the next few days and through the holidays. Our last guest was preparing to leave, when I noticed the refrigerator was getting warm again.

I mentioned this story to someone in my family, and they said, "Why didn't you just ask the Lord to fix it?" I don't know why I didn't, but I am glad that He did what I asked--He fixed it for the holidays.

The end of the story came tonight right before Lowe's Home Improvement closed for the evening. We had been watching for a good deal on a refrigerator while we used a smaller one to get us by until we could find one large enough for our family. Tonight, Rick went to Lowe's to buy other things when he decided to ask the man back in appliances if they had any damaged appliances that were marked down. Rick told him what we were looking for, and the man said they had one in the back. Now, keep in mind that we were not wanting to spend anywhere near full price for a refrigerator that would suit our family size. We were looking at used options or praying that we could find a blemished one.

He took Rick back and showed him a refrigerator that was a great refrigerator--much better than we have ever had before, but the original price was $1700. They had marked it down to $1500 for some marks on the front, which was a nice discount, but still way more than we wanted to pay. Rick began talking to the man and he said that he would sell it to him for $900. Rick said, "Well, I tell you what, if you will take $800, I will buy it tonight." He agreed, and we walked out of the store with an amazing deal and a brand new refrigerator (with a little scratch on the door). We also came out of it with another story of God's provision for our family! What a blessing we would have missed by just walking in, handing over a credit card, and buying a refrigerator big enough to meet our family's needs. God provides for those who choose to place their trust in Him!