Restored

Years ago I was given an ’83 Toyota pickup from my dad. It was my favorite car, which I acquired just a few years before my dad passed away. I drove it for maybe 5 years in Tucson, and then rebuilt the engine while we were living in Winnipeg. The body started to rust, so I ground down all the rust I could find, put on some fancy rust treatment, and had it repainted. We even had the bottom undercoated for the wicked Winnipeg winters.

After 7 years in Winnipeg, we moved to New Mexico where I put on a 2” body lift and some larger tires. It looked great, but was getting tired. Now approaching 200k miles and needing it’s second timing chain and engine rebuild, shocks, brakes, and every rubber component made, it was a bit worse for wear. The rust was starting to come back around the bed. Under the floor mats you could drop a football through the floor to the ground below.

The truck was too far gone to sell, too expensive to repair, and too sentimental to send to the wrecking yard – (otherwise known as auto hell). My wife knew how I felt, and left it to me to wrestle my emotions against reality. Like so many others who don’t know what to do with their left-over junk, I gave it to a mission in Mexico.

It would have been expensive to restore the old truck, in time and money and common sense, but I sometimes wish I’d thrown reality out instead of the truck. Restoration is always costly.

Numbers 6:26 says, “May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.” Showing you his favor means to look you in the eye – right down into your soul. He wants to see the rust and worn out timing chain. To be at peace means to be set at one again, to be healed. God is in the restoration business, and the cost is no object.

Dan