Thank God for we finally paid off our car loan yesterday! The Holy Spirit prompted me to review the excitement over buying our BMW in Aug 2015. I didn’t even know that there was a mini recession at the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016. At the point of purchase we just knew that God wanted us to sow in a time of famine because the car plate number in Strong’s Greek concordance meant a hundredfold. It reminded us of Genesis 26:12. Isaac sowed in the land during a time of famine and reaped a hundredfold.
The economic conditions in that year weren’t that good as there were speculations of going into a recession in 2016. But thank God it was only a mild recession. But back then we weren't holding back our purchase in view of a possible recession or crash in the economy. We didn't plan for that. We knew we were not confined to the world's economy but God's economy. People around us might think we were irrational to commit to such a huge purchase in such a gloomy economic outlook. But we weren't operating out of fear but out of faith in a big God.
However there was a strain on our finances in 2016. We thought about selling the BMW to buy a cheaper car. We even went for a test drive for another car in Feb 2016. After that test drive, Heng was convinced that he was settling for second best if he sold our BMW. It was a faith lesson for us. What God ordered, He would pay for it. We decided to trust the Lord to provide the finances for our car though the enemy was attacking our finances ever since we bought this car.
At one point, Heng thought about leaving his previous company in Jul 2016. I didn’t want him to be held back by the car loan instalments. So I told him that I was fine to sell our BMW if there was a need to downgrade should he quit his job. I had no issue with that. A car is a car. We didn’t want to be a slave to our car. Our finances got hit more badly in 2017 during the time when Heng was in between jobs. But thank God for seeing us through the lean times.
To be honest, there were many times in the past five years when I found coughing up the car loan payments a stretch. I couldn’t understand why God led us to this purchase when it would stretch our finances this much. Wouldn’t we be better off if we settled for a cheaper car? Yet it was a faith test for us. God just wanted us to teach us how to sow a seed in the time of famine.
That time what we couldn’t be sure was whether it was our vain desire to drive a luxury car or it was really the will of God. But we could not deny the great joy that owning this BMW gave us. We felt so loved by God when this luxury car dream was fulfilled. Like nothing was impossible for God. Yet when the attacks on finances and opposition came, we were tempted to sell the car, so as to have a more comfortable budget to work with.
Well the fact that we made it through those lean years and that we finally managed to pay off the loan was testament to God’s faithfulness and goodness in our lives. It can only be God. If not, we would have already sold off the car many times. Though it was really tough at times, we gritted our teeth and pressed through, trusting that God would provide. That was really a faith journey.
We have come to the end of the loan repayment and the economy is really in a big recession right now. Nobody knows how long this pandemic would last or when the economy would recover. In an uncertain climate where jobs are no longer secure or when there could be pay cuts, we are really thankful that we are released of such debt obligations. Not only that we learnt how God could really prosper us in a time of famine.
Last night before I slept, I was still pondering upon the release of car loan obligations. I could not believe that the amount we paid for this car was enough to buy a Housing Development Board flat! Unbelievable! I was still wondering if we could have made better use of this money but that was all water under the bridge.
The thing was not about whether we made a mistake in buying this BMW. It was about God’s goodness and faithfulness in our lives. So many times we thought of selling the car but God didn’t allow it to happen. Though it was tough at times, God gave us grace to see us through and provided us with the finances. We didn’t care about our reputation but God protected our reputation. After all it was His reputation at stake.
Heng said that we finally crossed the finishing line! I believe in those lean years, God was also teaching me about financial planning. If we were never stretched in our finances, I wouldn’t have learnt to exercise financial discipline and live simply within our means. We might have gotten used to a lifestyle of spending what we earned. I might never have thought about how to invest to make our money work harder for us. So God works all things out for our good.
I still feel that there are more nuggets to glean from this faith lesson. Something about sowing a seed in a time of famine. My question is whether we have reaped a hundredfold from sowing that seed in Aug 2015. God could be telling us that our harvest has now arrived after paying off our car loan. God could be testing us to see if we would hold on to His word all these years. If we didn’t give up, the seed would yield its increase.
God could also be showing us how when we sowed a seed in famine, He would protect our seed and not let the enemy rob us of the harvest. In a way our seed is like the BMW. The enemy had tempted us to dig up all the seeds and eat it during those lean times. But if we ate that seed, there would not be a harvest later on. God is good to let us eat a part of the seed (through the enjoyment of the BMW) and sow a part for future harvest.
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