"I hate to tell you this, but your plates are expired," said the officer. "Great," I thought, just what I need. First, I get stopped for doing 33 in a 25 and now my plates are expired!" Thus began my trip home one recent late afternoon as I left Williamsburg, Iowa. The day had already been long and I was anxious to get home, and frankly, I hadn't been paying much attention to the signs marking the new speed limit as I entered the school zone.
Suddenly it occured to me that my plates couldn't be expired...I had received no notice of it from the automated state system that always reminded me ahead of time. I had never had expired plates before. As the officer made out his paperwork, I pulled out my cell phone, rang my wife, and asked her if we had received any such notice. She assured me that we had not.
When the officer returned to my vehicle, my attitude had already modified from embarrassment to confusion. When I told him I couldn't understand how this happened (the expiration, not the speeding), he reminded me that I had just days before the expiration would cost me another fine.
Because I had a "clean" record, the officer graciously allowed me off with a warning, and I pledged to investigate the plate expiration immediately. Come to find out, when we had purchased the lease on our van, its "owner" had never been changed from the lease company to us. Hence, the reminder had gone into "limbo" - some never to be opened file in an unknown email or P.O. box.
Within an hour the next morning I had it all cleared up, but I couldn't help wondering what could have, would have happened had I not been stopped by this man faithfully doing his duty. I would have been fined for sure for expired plates is what! And once again I was reminded that God has an almost humorous way (at times) of taking care of us. I learned to slow down, was spared the ticket, and an even greater ticket because of this slightly embarrassing incident. All in all, a relatively cheap, but very powerful lesson...and reminder of God's faithfulness.
I can't tell you how many times in my life this type of thing has happened (not with tickets, but with God taking care of me). The next time you're absolutely sure that something bad has just occurred, remember that our God is a master of using and redeeming any and all circumstances as He seeks to take care of us. You may just find that the bad thing ends up having some very good results.
"We know that God causes all things to work together for good, for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). Don't ever let the idea that this verse has become almost cliche detract from the fact that it is true!
