October 2nd: : Guaranteed!

My car needs a new exhaust manifold, the part that connects the engine to the muffler, because it is cracked. It’s a relatively expensive part but a fairly easy fix, so I’m going to get an experienced friend help me change it. Since, I have to buy the part before I replace it, I went onto the internet to see what it costs. Surprise, surprise, when I entered the name of the part and the make, model and year of my car, I learned that the part is known for breaking exactly the way it’s done for me. Sure, it’s a ten year old car  but my 2001 Honda is more prone to exhaust manifold cracks than other cars.

It is a bit frustrating to have learned about this issue after the warranty has expired. It’s even more frustrating to have learned that this is a common problem and that no recall has been issued. I guess, however that it can be argued that, since the part is subjected to a fair bit of stress, that with age it’s bound to break down, and a car-maker can’t be responsible for their product forever. Well, at least I can save some money fixing this known problem with a friend’s help. After all, Honda might not care about my car after 10 years, but I still do.

We humans are also known for being problematic after a while. Pretty much as soon as we’re able to make our own decisions we are able to choose to do the wrong thing. None of us are exempt. None of us can avoid it. None of us is one-hundred percent failure free. Sin and error are a part of life; not a good part mind you, but a part of our daily existence nevertheless.

God knows about this shortcoming. God has ways of dealing with our mistakes. He doesn’t care if they are done purposefully or by accident; all He cares about is the way we hurt ourselves, Him or other people when we do something wrong. There is no time limit on this care. God doesn’t have a limited interest in us that expires after a few years or a certain number of experiences. God is in it for the whole length of our lives, from the moment we are born, to our final breath, and into our eternal life with him.

We might not think God cares but that’s not true. God cares passionately about us. Our problem is our disconnection from our creator. God’s interest in us never wanes but ours does. When things are going well we are likely to forget that we are still under warranty. When life gets so busy we hardly have time for ourselves, we get distracted from the fact that God is still watching out for us. It seems that only when things go awry that we remember God has a place in our lives. Of course, by then we’ve forgotten our end of the bargain, or we think we can fix ourselves.

That’s OK. If we ask for God’s help, He’ll be right there for us. He is always on the alert for an opportunity to be involved with us. It would be nice if we included Him in our joy more often, but His love for us is so great that He’s there for us even if we only remember Him in the hard times, or the times we’ve really blown it, a guarantee that will last as long as we’re around.