Below Zero yet in His Hands

            The Matanuska Valley of Alaska is a area north of Anchorage that lays between the great Susitna and Matanuska Rivers. Along the Matanuska River on the east side of the valley is the town of Palmer. A bit further west, nearer the Susitna River, is the town of Wasilla. In the early years of our marriage Betsy and I had moved from Anchorage to a home in Palmer only several hundred feet from the Matanuska River to help establish a small church in Wasilla. Each Sunday, and often during the week, we would drive the fifteen miles across the “Palmer Wasilla Highway” to our church in Wasilla.

In the winter months, this road, like many in Alaska, was often plagued with snow drifts. Because of this, it was often necessary to leave early in the morning to be sure to be at church on time. Being there early was also compounded by the fact that one of my duties at the church was tou be sure that the wood stove was sufficiently warming the log building.  Although I had an older p/u truck for work and cutting firewood, we would usually drive an older mid-size sedan to church on Sunday to accommodate not only Betsy and I and our two kids, but also others that we often invited to church.

One particular Sunday we had arranged to pick up a single mother that lived just off the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.  She and her three children, one of them a teen-age boy, lived in modest cabin down a steep winding road about two miles from the highway. Grateful that day that the snow had not fallen heavily the night before, we drove the winding narrow road down to her cabin to pick her and her children up for church. When we stopped in the clearing that led up to her cabin, Betsy and our kids stayed in the car while I ran up to her door to see if they were ready. It was even colder at their cabin than the below zero temps at our home in Palmer.   Because of this we knew we needed to keep the kids out of the cold as much as possible.  Moments later I was herding this woman and her kids as quickly as possible to our car where we would all pack in like Alaskan sardines. It was warmer with all those bodies packed together into our front and back seats.

With everyone secured in the car, I began to back out of the small clearing to begin the drive up the hill to the highway.  Those plans were soon hindered as our car stalled when I changed gears.  I made several quick attempts to get it running again, each time with no luck.  The outside cold was rapidly overtaking the warmth in the car. Recognizing the danger of the situation, I instructed Betsy and the other woman to take all the kids back into the cabin until I could get the car running. As they hurriedly walked towards the cabin, I grabbed the arm of the fifteen-year-old boy and asked him to stay with me.

It was not unusual for us at that time to have car troubles.  Neither of the vehicles we owned could be mistaken for what you would call new.  The young man and I walked around to the front of the car and looked under the hood to see what could be done. After checking the limited number of things I knew to check, carburetor, spark plugs, etc., I ran around to the driver’s seat and attempted to start the engine. Again, it just turned over with not even a hint of starting.  After several more attempts and seeing no signs of it starting, I told the young man to shut the hood.  I decided it was a time to pray. I also recognized this as an opportunity to show this young man how real and present was the God we had been telling him about. 

I asked him join me on laying our glove covered hands on the hood of the car and then praying.  We were both getting very cold, but at least I had my faith in the Lord’s care for us to lean upon. It was obvious from the look on this young man’s face that he had had enough and wanted to go back into their cabin. After praying, I told Him to stand there next to the car because I was going to get into the driver’s seat and start it. As slipped into the driver’s seat, I heard the Lord speak to me. He told me to go get Betsy and the others and put them in the car. 

Faith is often about doing what is contrary to the natural laws and accepted wisdom. I had sent them into the cabin to stay warm, and now I was going to ask them to come out into the cold to a car that was still not running.  Although still reasonably young in my faith, I had already encountered this type of leading from the Lord before. He had at numerous times asked me to do things that did not fit natural reasoning. While still only half in the car, I asked the young man to get the others and bring them out to the car. His look showed the incredulous expression you might expect. The car was not running, why should he get the others? I had to instruct him a second time before he actually turned shaking his head on his way to go back to the cabin for the others.

Five minutes later we once again had a sardine like packed car, with five children and three adults all sitting in the cold. I asked the others to again pray with me.  When we were done praying, I turned the key and the car fired up as if its dependability had never been in question.  Our drive to church that morning was animated with our discussion of how the Lord had taken care of our mechanical problems. The young man was clearly amazed at what he had seen and he did not hesitate from repeating the story over and over to the others of just how the car had started without us doing anything to fix it ourselves. Needless to say, this young family was well on its way to recognizing God’s great love and power that exists for all those who will not only call Jesus Christ Lord, but will also ask Him to act as Lord of their lives.