Episode Transcript
SPEAKER A00:00:00 - 00:11:29
It is all too often said that there are no miracles performed these days. Well, I'd like to challenge this idea with my story of the gift on four wheels. Welcome to Miracles in the Twenty First Century. I'm Nikita Jensen. There's a verse I'd like to start off with. In Matthew chapter seven verse seven and eight, the Bible says, "Ask, and it will be given to you." Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. In 2021, I moved to a little town called Currumbong. It was one that I never heard of before, but I found a university there—or college at the time—Avondale College. college, now university, and started doing my studies there. As someone who grew up in the city, buses were frequently coming around every 5 to 10 minutes, and transportation was very easy. So I never had to worry about saving up for a car. That was something that, well, I've got public transportation, I don't need to worry about having a car to drive anywhere. Really. And then I got my licence eventually, and I didn't really need to use it all that much as well. So eventually, I moved to Currambong, as I said, in 2021. And I realised the public transportation was every hour, maybe every 2 hours. It depended on the day, especially weekends. It was quite tricky. It was quite difficult to get from A to B. I'd have to sometimes walk over 40 minutes to get to the university I was studying at. As a preacher that I was listening to, I had the car of the disciples. It was my feet. I had to walk and I had to make sure I timed everything properly. I had to have my bags packed, so on and so forth. And from that moment when I moved there, I really wanted a car. I started praying. And I'd make a mention to my parents every now and again, to be able to live here properly, to be able to get to the shops and back as well without having to be a nuisance to other people, it's ideal to have a car because without one, I'm a little bit stuck. The grocery store up the street was really expensive, whereas Coles was about a 15-20 minute drive. So, The roads were a little bit not the greatest. They had, as I, my parents and I called it when we were in Fiji, irreversible speed humps. So delightful potholes in the ground that wouldn't be the best for bike riding, especially when drivers didn't really care about people on the road as much. So safety-wise, it'd be better to have a car. After talking to my parents here and there, nothing happened. Nothing surmounted to it. But I still kept praying and asking God every now and again when it came to mind. I think it would be beneficial if I had a car. Looking back, it was really good that I didn't because it humbled me, and I had to ask people if I could get a lift to the shops or whenever they were going to the shops. May I please? please join them at their time, and then fitting it within my schedule to be able to do so. And that happened for year 2021, '22, '23, and '24. So for 4 years, I was without a car. I did have a road bike eventually. So I was managing to do that to and from uni. But it just wasn't the greatest, especially when getting groceries and getting groceries for 2 weeks at a Reasonable price meant I had too many bags when riding my pushbike. So I was getting to the end of my degree at Avondale University. And I was talking with my parents with the prospect of continuing my studies in a different field. Then brought up getting a car in that conversation, which was quite a touchy topic. with my parents. And my dad, Papa, just went, again? You're talking about a car? You've mentioned it for the past 4 years, Nikki. What are you doing? And I just said, I'll need it if I go on placement. It's not going to be easy if I've got a school or a different place that I have to go to for placement that's 40 minutes drive away. It's not going to be helpful. I'll need transportation that's more reliable than the public transportation here. And so I just need to start saving up properly for a reasonable car instead of a dodgy secondhand one that's not the greatest for longevity. And then my parents thought about it. We finished the call that night. And about A week or two after, that was when they reached out and just said, "What sort of car are you looking for?" It shocked me. I I wasn't expecting something like this to happen with my parents. They are not stingy. They give the best gifts possible, but they also try to push my brother and I to be the best that we can to be able to. save or to do what we can and should do. So in my mind, it was already set. I'm going to try and do whatever it takes in my own strength to be able to save up for a reasonable car. But my parents came up and just said, we'll help out. So they'd give a couple of ideas here and there. My dad started researching all these different things, and I just was overwhelmed. It really shocked me because they acted in such a loving manner that I was not ready to receive. I guess you can say it was welcome, but it was just such a shock to the system that it just almost didn't compute and just going, "What did you do to my mama and papa?" But we talked and we organized. a car that would be picked up from my dad when he would come over real quickly to Darwin. And it just worked out beautifully. We organized a way to be able to set up payment schedules so I'd be able to pay back for the cost of the car, even if it took me a long while to do so. I wanted to do that because they're willing to pay up front for me to have it, so let me just pay it off as I'm going. And I wanted to pay back what they gave me. But it makes me really think on how good God is. He gave his Son, and we just have to accept and follow him wherever he goes. The day I managed to pick up the car after my brother and Papa drove from Darwin all the way through to Canberra, and I had to go over there and pick it up, my dad sat my brother and I down and just said, the cars that the both of you have, your mum and I have come to an agreement that you don't need to pay us back. And that was a lot of money. That was a brand new car. It was that year's model with almost everything that you wanted in a car, really. And it was such a blessing from God because the day that my dad sat me down, me and my brother down, a month— the day of a month before I prayed and just said, God, by the end of this year, I want to be able to have saved up the exact amount of money to be able to pay off the entire debt to my parents. And a month later, when my dad sat us down, him and Mama said, the cars are all yours, free of charge. Just look after them. And that just— oh, God answers and hears our prayers. We know that we can rely on him. I asked, I sought, and I knocked. And it was fascinating because after my brother headed off back to his place that he was living in, Baba, he just randomly in a conversation we were having asked, hey Nikki, do you pay tithe? I wasn't necessarily sure how to respond because the very fact that my parents were already uncomfortable with me being a Christian, they didn't necessarily like me one reading the Bible and two choosing to follow it. But three, the idea of paying tithe was also an issue for them. However, I prayed and God gave me the wisdom, and I just said. Yes, I do pay tithe. And he immediately said, your mum and I were so close to not giving you and your brother the cars because of that possibility, but we chose to either way. Please don't give the church more tithe. And the beautiful thing is God's given us how much, like, as a recommendation in his word, how much to give back. Our tithe. But he doesn't really give us the percentage of what we should give as an offering. And so I just responded to Papa, no worries, I'll keep it as is for my tithe. But in my mind, I was like, I can praise God all the more through a thanksgiving offering, even just with singing in the car and dedicating it As that's God's car. God gave it to me. It's for his mission and his mission alone. So you might have a prayer that you've been pondering over and just asking God to provide it. It wouldn't have been good for me to have had that car early on in my walk. I would have struggled in many different ways, but God gave it to me in the right time, right place, and he paid for it all through my non-believing parents. So there is a possible way that God will provide for you. Have faith and believe in him. When it's in his timing, his will will be done. You can hold on to that hope. Thank you very much for listening. Have a good one.
