"Car wash... talking about the car wash, yeah"

The road salt and winter grime were thick on my car after weeks of driving on snowy roads, so when a break in the weather arrived, I pulled up in front of the automatic drive-thru car wash, ready to be rid of it. I slid my credit card through the payment kiosk and slowly drove forward on cue once the garage door pulled up. Once I was far enough in to trigger the red stoplight, I heeded the instruction to put my car in park, sat back and waited for the water spray to start …and waited …and waited. Nothing happened – no movement in the mechanical parts, no water spray …nothing. Minutes passed… enough to indicate that something was wrong. With reluctance I called the “emergency” number posted on the wall in front of me, as there was no other choice available – the door had closed behind me, and I was trapped inside the facility.

When a voice came on the line, I explained my predicament. The woman on the other end asked me what color the stoplight was – perhaps I hadn’t pulled in far enough? I told her it was red, and that I had put the car in park as I was told. Apparently, she was sitting in an office building nearby, as she looked out her window and said, “Oh, yes… I see you there.”

And then suddenly, without either of us doing anything else, the water started to spray, the hose rack inched slowly over my car, and I was in business. Everything worked perfectly from that point on, and a couple of minutes later I was on my way with my vehicle beautifully clean.

So was that all it was – a random happening like many we experience in various ways as we go through our days? Just something to laugh about with my kids later that evening? Or was it something more?

So many of today’s problems are simply the result of people feeling invisible in their struggles. Difficulties are bad enough, but dealing with them unseen increases the stress and anxiety levels contained within. There’s no one to consult with, to question… to help. With no other options left, we are forced to take what may seem like drastic action. In my case it was to make an “emergency” call to the number posted on the wall. It didn’t really feel like an emergency… and perhaps your situation doesn’t either… but I didn’t know how to resolve my predicament on my own. I can’t tell you how reassuring it was to hear the office manager that day say, “Oh yes, I see you there.”

Her words didn’t change anything in the physical realm. I don’t know what finally made the mechanical parts start to move, but I don’t think the voice on the other end of the phone had anything to do with it. But they did change something in me. It was so good to be “seen” when I was literally invisible to anyone passing by, enclosed in the car wash as I was. I knew that one way or another, help was on the way.

Truly so many of our heartaches and struggles are likewise invisible to others we come into contact with each day. Nobody else may know that we’re stuck and in need of help, maybe even on the verge of desperation. Who to turn to in that situation? As a last resort we may make an emergency phone call to God. Does He know that we’re struggling here? Does He care?

I don’t always get a physical voice in reply, but one way or another a message is always delivered, be it a sudden peace in my soul, an idea I hadn’t previously considered, or the sudden appearance of another human (possibly with angel wings sprouting from his back?) to help me out of the situation. However it’s expressed, the message is, “Oh yes – I see you there!”… and suddenly I relax, knowing that help is on the way. And most of the time, the problem is resolved as quickly as that day in the car wash. Other times I may have to wait a little longer, but I do so in the knowledge that eventually I’ll be doused in God’s Living Water  and emerge from the difficulty sparkling clean.

“He will all on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.”

(Psalm 91:15 NIV)

(photo credit: Unsplash/ZulfahmiKhani)