March 28. Rick Warren. Wisdom. Hope. Encouragement. Vision. Pick any or all of these words to describe to Rick Warren and you will be right.
Rick is the founder of Saddleback Church and one of the leading pastors in the US. He is a well-known author of books whose purpose is to help Christians, whether those Christians are in the pew or in the pulpit.
Rick also initiated the PEACE plan, a global mission whose goal is to fight “five giants”—illiteracy, pandemics, poverty, self-serving leadership, and spiritual emptiness.
On this date in 2014, Rick hosted the Pastor’s Conference on Mental Health. He is a mentor to many other pastors and the founder of the Purpose Driven Alliance (a global alliance of pastors) and of Pastors.com, an on-line resource for pastors.
Here’s today’s story.
Divine appointments often take the cooperation of others. Be the other.
When God called Rick Warren to full-time ministry, he was a young man in his twenties, and money was tight. Rick and his wife Kay didn’t jet off to Hawaii or Paris.
Instead, they “got away” in a little trailer owned by Kay’s parents in Arizona. For one trip to see the Grand Canyon, Rick and Kay piled into their twenty-five-year-old station wagon.
Along the way, the dreaded red-and-blue flashing lights appeared in Rick’s rear-view mirror. Time to pull over. He knew he hadn’t been speeding or breaking any other rules of the road. Yep, the police officer had pulled him over to let him know he and his wife were in danger.
“Sir, your left rear tire is so bald it’s going to blow any time,” the police officer said.
But they were in the middle of nowhere, and there was no tire shop to be found; the nearest gas station was thirty miles away. Rick and Kay decided to roll along until they reached the gas station. They hoped and prayed the tire would hold up. Driving slowly. Praying.
Finally, they pulled into the gas station. But the attendant told them he had no tires for sale. So Rick did the logical thing. He filled the clunker’s gas tank.
He tried to figure out what to do about the tire. Another car pulled up on the other side of the pump, and a man got out, and the two began to make small talk. It turned out that other man was a Christian, too, and he was on his way home after a trip to Seattle.
Rick told him, “Well, since you’re a Christian I’m going to ask you to pray for me. I have to get a tire.”
“Wait just a minute … let me check,” the man said. He walked to the back of his own station wagon. He pulled out a tire, and it fit perfectly on Rick’s car!
The man explained God told him to buy that tire when he had left for his trip, even though it didn’t fit on his car. He had carried it all the way to the Grand Canyon and up to Seattle. He had no idea why God had said to do so—until he pulled into this gas station.
Rick was amazed at the man’s obedience to God and equally amazed by God’s provision. But God promises to clear a path for us and provide for our every need. The way God holds up His end of the deal is always mind-blowing.
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10 NIV).
Think about how God has provided for you in miraculous ways. Are you living differently as a result of that? Divine appointments often take the cooperation of others. Be the other.
“Our Pastor.” Saddleback Church. Accessed September 4, 2020. https://saddleback.com/visit/about/pastors/our-pastor.
Ellis, Mark. “Faith and Obedience: Rick Warren’s bald tire story.” God Reports. Published December 11, 2018. http://godreports.com/2018/12/faith-and-obedience-rick-warrens-bald-tire-story/.
Ritchie, Erika I. “Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren is focused on keeping religion relevant 40 Years after his first Easter service.” Orange County Register. Published April 19, 2019. https://www.ocregister.com/2019/04/19/saddleback-church-pastor-rick-warren-is-focused-on-keeping-religion-relevant-40-years-after-his-first-easter-service/.
Story read by Daniel Carpenter