Bad things happen to good people
September 4, Heathrow Airport: My tour across England will start tonight. I critically eye my rental car from Alamo. According to the contract, there is only a mark on the left front wheel. But with an attentive quick look, I discover several scratches that I diligently write down on a sheet of paper. I definitely want to avoid trouble when I return the vehicle, so with eagle eyes I carefully walk around the KIA several times.
September 20, north of London: This morning as I head to the parking lot of my hotel, I’m suddenly struck with utter disbelief. Right over the back door of my car I see a big dent. “What kind of coconut has fallen onto the roof of my car?”
I’m confused. I wasn’t involved in an accident and I do not remember any loud noise while driving. But a dent is a dent. Something must have happened in the night with the car.
When renting the car, 1000 English pounds were reserved on my credit card in case of an accident. I will surely have to spend much time dealing with the insurance claims, but I’m glad I accepted the contract with full insurance on the car. At least I’ll be refunded the amount after much paperwork and time. However, I’m wrong! When I call the insurance agent I find out that roof damage is excluded from this contract. Great! What can I do now?
Yesterday morning I had a press interview in London, so I was able to go to Heathrow airport at lunch time to discuss the situation with Alamo. My mood was bad as I went into the office. The Bible tells us to “cast all your cares upon the Lord, because He cares for you!” I tried to keep this thought in my head, but how could God help me? The dent was there. Even a blind man could see it. I couldn’t imagine how God could help me then and there. “Cast all your cares upon Him.”
The lady in the office talked for a while with her boss about the incident. Then they sent me to a group of employees outside. One of the men typed the car’s code number in his device and seconds later printed out a small ticket. Now the Englishman grumbled good-naturedly, “The dent is old, don’t worry about it!” – If the stone that fell out of my heart that very moment would have hit the rental car, there would have been another big dent.
Problem solved and the whole thing still remains incomprehensible to me. With the greatest care my eyes had examined that car. And for two weeks and 2,500 miles I had been driving all over England with no obvious dent. Then out of the blue on September 20 the bump was there. I am reminded again of the phrase in the Book of Books “cast all your worries on Him, for He cares for you!” In silence I sent a heartfelt prayer of thanks to heaven. /KDJ
