I thought I was just buying a car. I didn’t know God was about to teach me one of the most unforgettable lessons of my life—in a broken vehicle, on a dangerous road, in the middle of the night.

After my wedding, we were trying to settle in a bit. Our jobs were not so stable at that moment, and we were not financially stable enough to buy a personal vehicle for us to go around places near or far. It took time for us to manage our finances and save a bit of money with the little salaries we got in the mission.

We were blessed, I would say. Not even a single day did we sleep without eating. Our kitchen was always filled with enough food. Sometimes we would feel lazy to cook and eat, but never once did we sleep, saying we were hungry and there was nothing to eat. God always made sure that He provided.

It took a while and lots of twists and turns along the way. But our focus never left the Lord, and the Lord never took His eyes off us. Finally, the time came for us to buy a second-hand car. I found a seller who was selling a Ford Fiesta 2013 model. It looked good, and I was able to drive and enjoy the ride during the test drive. I told the seller I would get that car. Since it was my first car, I was a little desperate to buy it, and my wife trusted that I had looked into all the technical things I should look at, and I blindly trusted the seller and thought he would not sell me a broken one.

Two days passed, and I suddenly heard a sound. My wife was not in the car at that time. I was like, “Oh, what sound is that?” Immediately, I started to feel something was off in the car. The transmission started failing, and I could feel it clearly. I thought, “Oh, now what to do?”

I took it to the shop, and they told me it would cost 50,000 pesos to change some important parts. 50,000 is like 1,000 dollars. That’s a huge amount of money. My wife did not know this. I did not tell her about it. I knew if she knew, she would feel really bad about the situation. It was her first car as well, and as much as I enjoyed the ride going near and far, she did too. Anyway, I thought I would pay that money and fix it. So it was Friday, and I told my wife I would go for a shave and grooming session. I took the car to the shop and asked them to fix it within the day. They removed all the parts and told me that by the end of the day, it would be fixed. I trusted them and did a test drive. It felt good. I paid the money and started to drive. But this time, the problem came again.

I went back to the shop and said, “I told you guys to fix the transmission issue, but it hasn’t changed. I still feel the same problem.” They said, “Oh sorry, we did not change the entire thing. We only changed some parts. To change the whole thing, it will take another 30,000 more.” I was like, “I told you before this is the issue. You fixed it and told me give 50k and it will be done. And now another 30k more? Oh come on now. What am I facing right now? Are you guys scamming me? Since I am a foreigner in this country? What is happening right now?”

They strictly told me, “Sir, 30k more and we will fix it for you.”

You know what else to do with these guys? So I left that place with extreme frustration. When my wife asked, “Okay, let’s go to church,” I said, “Okay, let’s go.” As I was driving and feeling that transmission issue again, I was literally tearing up. I had just been extremely scammed by people I trusted, and I couldn’t tell my wife about it because I didn’t know what she would think of me. So I kept it to myself.

After some days, I found the seller in a mall and told him, “Brother, I want to give this car away and get another second-hand one.” I was expecting at least the seller would come to me and say sorry. But anyway, I also understand his part. Once it is sold, it is no longer in his care. Sometimes sellers fix things just enough for the moment. It works fine for a while, but later it reveals its true colors.

That’s when we see the real effect of shortcut actions taken just to push the product away and get some money. It happens everywhere, and victims are everywhere as well. These situations made me realize and taught me how to deal with people. I did not raise my voice at them or scold them badly. The scamming they did to me didn’t destroy me; it built me. I learned the world better than before. I took it as a personal learning, and I never hated them for what happened.

A Night I Will Never Forget

Days passed, months passed. We planned to go to my wife’s parents’ place, which is 500 kilometers away from where we stayed. We chose to take the car since it would be more comfortable, and our son was 2 months old at that time. It felt better than public transport, which would be hectic and dangerous as well.

We safely reached and spent two weeks with them. When the vacation was over, we got ready to come back home. Just thinking about driving 500 kilometers back was tiring. I was like, “Ohhh no.” The car I had at that time was small and not as comfortable as I thought. The roads were smooth in some places but rough in most. On rough roads, the car was shaking heavily. It was unpleasant, especially for a 2-month-old baby. He would always wake up when the car made louder sounds on rough roads. The route back home was difficult. I did not know the best time to travel those roads was during the day. I thought nighttime would be free and easy to cross the mountains. But it was the opposite.

At night, heavy trucks dominate the roads. They rush because they need to cross the mountains quickly to reach the highway. Some of them are on time limits, and sometimes the police restrict certain roads during the day. These trucks are huge, and my car is small. I’m not saying you will get into an accident, but you will if you are not careful. You have to be extremely careful on those roads. Every time I travel that road, I see at least one or two accidents. I have driven such roads before in India and in the Philippines, but those times I was alone. Now it was a different reality; I had my wife, my 2-month-old cute little fellow, my sister-in-law, and her little kid. If anything happened to them, the guilt would kill me till I die. You cannot sleep. You have to stay alert the whole time.

At one sharp V-curve, a huge truck came in front of me while turning. I was climbing uphill, and I couldn’t stop. I had to make the turn. My car went so close to the truck’s belly, but I managed to pass. It was scary. We passed a little bit, and I felt the car pulling to the right. Immediately, I knew. Flat tire. It was 2 a.m., and we were in the middle of nowhere. I saw something like a car shed just a meter away and parked there. I prepared to change the tire, but later found out the rod to lift the jack was missing. I thought, “That’s it. Finished. We are stuck here for the night.”

But something told me in my mind, “Go look around that shed.”

What God Was Really Doing

I searched and, to my surprise, found a strong, lengthy nail wrapped in cloth in one corner. I picked it and used it. It was not easy. I had to use my full strength, especially since it was the front wheel. Even with the proper rod, it is hard. But with just a nail, it took me 45 minutes to lift the car enough to change the tire. Finally, I changed the wheel. With the spare tire, I had to maintain 80 km/h. Though it took another six hours to reach home. But we were happy that we reached safely.

After settling at home, I went to my room, closed the door, and sat quietly thinking about everything that had happened. I asked myself, “Why did all this happen? Is this just a coincidence? Or is God teaching me something through this?” Before all this, I had been upset with God. I felt things were out of control. I even wondered if God was truly with me. But when I started thinking deeply and replaying each moment in my mind, I realized it was not a coincidence. It was God orchestrating things.

Imagine what would have happened if the tire had burst on that dangerous mountain curve? What if it had happened when that huge truck was making that sharp turn? What would have happened to us? Instead, the car stopped just a meter away from that shed. An open shed. With a nail nicely wrapped in cloth, perfectly sized. As if it looked like someone wrapped that nail in a cloth and placed it there in the corner. The nail I found was perfect. If it had been too thin, it would have bent. If it had been longer, it would not have rotated properly and would hit the parts under the wheel. It was the right size. The right thickness. The right provision at the right moment.

Friends, that is how God works.

God is amazing, my friend. Trust Him. Trust His guidance. Trust His leading. Trust His promises. He gives everything at the right time, in the right size, in the right measure, in the right amount. Nothing in your life is random when your life is in His hands. Never think the Lord has lost sight of you. Even if you feel like a sinner. Even if you feel you have lived a dangerous life, made terrible mistakes, or gone too far. Even if you sit alone and think, “This is it. I have nobody.”

Let me tell you something clearly — God loves you deeply and personally. He longs to have a real and living connection with you. Count on Him. Lean on Him. Learn to trust Him again and again.

Even if people scam you, as they scammed me, do not let your heart grow bitter. Do not let disappointment steal your faith. Love them back. Pray for them. Place them in the hands of the Lord and let Him deal with the people and the situations. You do not have to carry that burden forever.

Even if someone plots to destroy your reputation or damage your good name, trust Him. Stand firm. Watch how the Lord turns negativity into growth. Watch how He uses burdens to build you for His kingdom. Watch how He transforms pain into strength and anger into peace. Watch how He takes your most frustrating moments and turns them into testimonies.

Let the Lord lead you, my friend. Let Him take control. Give total control to Him, not partially, not when it is convenient, but fully. He will never put you to shame. He will crown you with goodness. His mercy will follow you, surround you, and carry you all the days of your life.

And one day you will look back and realize, even in the hardest moments, He was there all along.