I had my Oldsmobile Cutlass for 22 years, when it began breaking down so often that I no longer felt safe driving it. For years, I had been praying and believing God to provide me with a more reliable car, but my husband, Joe, and I were still not in a position to replace it anytime soon. Once again, I called on the Lord to consider my plight, and to act on my behalf somehow. I asked Him to cause my husband to sympathize with my situation so much, that he would be moved to offer me some real help. We talked about buying a new car, and we prayed about it, but we knew in our hearts that it would just put us deeper into debt.

Then, it became obvious to me that God was really working in my husband's heart for my sake. Joe told me, "From now on, I will take your car to work, and you can drive MY car!" After getting over the initial shock, I told my husband that I would give it a try. Suddenly, instead of driving a 22-year-old car, I was driving a 3-year-old car every day. To top it off, my old car never gave my husband a bit of trouble, but always performed perfectly, until he was able to purchase himself a new car.

The Scripture says: "[God] will come to do a strange thing; He will come to do an unusual deed." (Isaiah 28:21 NLT) I've discovered that when you ask the Lord to come to your aid, He may surprise you by doing something totally unexpected and unusual. In my case, I never in my wildest dreams expected my husband to offer me his own car. He was always saying how much he loved driving it, and what a pleasure it was to drive it to work every day. It never occurred to me that he would consider giving it up to drive a 22-year-old vehicle that would be an embarrassment for him to drive to work. Nevertheless, after God put it on his heart to trade cars with me, Joe cheerfully sacrificed his favorite vehicle, and the Lord rewarded him by not only making my old car work perfectly for him, but by enabling him to purchase a beautiful new car for himself two years later - at an extraordinary price!

One of the problems we have when we are faced with adversity or challenging situations of some kind, is that we limit God because we can't envision a desirable solution. Many times, the Lord wants to do "a strange thing" or "an unusual deed," but our lack of faith and vision prevent Him. So I say to you today - whatever need you have at this moment, God has a creative, custom-made solution to your problem. Call on Him right now, and open the door for Him to do something strange and wonderful on your behalf!

Prayer: Lord, I praise You for being such a creative genius, as well as a generous and gracious God. I thank You that even when it seems like there is no hope for me or my situation, You already have a tailor-made solution for me. Please expand my vision and enable me to trust You for the "impossible". Help me to have the kind of relationship with You that would allow You to work wonders on my behalf on a regular basis. Today, I commit myself to expect the unexpected from You every day!

- J. M. Farro