Did God provide for me or did I get jacked?

So we recently received our combined federal and state tax refund, direct deposited into our checking account. With visions of of new clothes, books, and backyard landscaping dancing in my head I had great plans for how we’d spend the free 1/3 of our bounty. We’d decided this year with extra money that we get outside our usual budget to save 1/3, give away 1/3, and spend 1/3.

Well, then our Mazda MPV (don’t call it a mini-van– it’s an extended hatchback) needed a repair. Cha-ching: $400. The following week our sweet 2001 Malibu wouldn’t start. Cha-ching: $850.

Good bye clothes, books, and much needed 24″ box California Pepper tree for the backyard. It’s like I’d rolled up at the mall with a wallet full of cash and been greeted by a friendly man with a gun who kindly relieved me of my now heavy wallet, helped me back into my beautiful (hubcap-missing) Malibu and sent me back home empty handed. I felt like I just got “jacked”.

I was thinking this all over yesterday while I sat in that Malibu with the engine off. I had a few minutes to think, because it wasn’t starting again. Hmmm, “that’s nice,” I thought. Luckily, I was sitting 20 yards from my wife’s car (the extended hatchback) since I had just driven to her office to pick something up. So, I had to admit that if my car was going to quit on me in the middle of my day, this was about as good a place as it could do it. Hmmm.

As I hopped into the Mazda, leaving my $850-later-and-now-not-starting Malibu behind, I wondered: was God providing for us, or were we getting jacked? Or were both happening at the same time? I have my opinion, but I’ll let you form yours.