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God’s Miracles Never Stop
A few years ago, Carol and I wrote, “Is God Real in Your Life?” In that article, we told how God had miraculously answered our prayers.
Reba, my first wife, had passed away about a year before, and I was trying to refocus my life back toward ministry. After 54 years of working as a team, I could not seem to get things done by myself.
In the above article, we shared how Carol and I prayed the same night, but very differently. I prayed for a wife and helpmate. She prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for God being her husband in her widowed state.
I shared how God answered my prayer for a wife and helpmate. However, there is always more to the story.
Many things had to happen before we could get married. In this article, I will share some obstacles we faced and how God provided.
During the last few years of my 54-year marriage to Reba, I accumulated a fairly large debt. She suffered from Alzheimer’s, and as I cared for her at home, I did not manage my finances well.
I purchased things on credit instead of cash. Even though God met my every need, I was not a good steward. My mind was focused on other things.
The night I asked God for a wife and helpmate, I did not even consider my debt.
I believed, as Carol did, that Christians should maintain a debt-free lifestyle. However, I had not done so.
Debt is a barrier to answering God’s call.
Carol has always maintained a debt-free life following the Scripture. Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8 As I mentioned above, I had not!
In July 2021, I was deep in debt and could not see any way I could pay it off before spring. However, God is real in my life, and I knew He would provide if He wanted me to marry, move to Virginia, and continue my ministry there.
As I mentioned in the earlier article, God showed me I would marry Carol, but I believed I needed to go to Virginia to propose. To go was an added expense, but proposing should be in person, and I knew God would again provide. I did not know how, but I was at peace that He would.
So I went and proposed.
Carol said yes, and we started to plan.
We originally set November 30, 2021, as our wedding date. Unfortunately, I was sure it would take until January 2022 or later to pay off my debt.
As I laid it before God, He assured me that He would provide everything I needed. Yet, I had some doubts and kept trying to figure out how He would do it. At other times, I plotted how I could do it myself, but I knew that it was impossible.
Carol had dedicated her life to homeschooling her 6 children and then many hours to various ministries after they were grown. Her work provided minimal income, as did her retirement years later. So her resources, as mine, were limited.
Besides, I needed a car to do ministry in Virginia, as neither Carol nor I had one. Homes are far apart in her area of Virginia, making it too far to walk.
When I returned to San Antonio, I seriously asked God to help me move without debt. God has always provided, and I knew that He would do so now, but since I was the one who made the debt. So, I was not without fear.
Things Changed in Virginia
COVID started to climb in Carol’s local area of Virginia at that point, making her less safe from infection. I convinced her that we needed to move up the wedding date to August and go on an extended honeymoon in Texas.
In August, I rented a car and drove out. We were married on August 23, 2021. Again, God provided the additional income to cover the cost.
I thought the trip would prolong paying off my debt, but it did not. Therefore, even though I saw the debt as an impossible mountain to overcome, God did not.
God provided a significant increase in sales from my old customers. This unusual increase almost completely wiped out my debt. God has worked many miracles in my life, but never one like this.
He showed us that by the end of November, he would provide enough to cover our travel back to Virginia and our housing costs.
A Real Miracle
This miracle does not stop there. We needed transportation to Virginia and a reliable car to get us around in a rural area. God provided additional money to purchase a car. He then led us to a Toyota Echo, which cost precisely what He had provided. It even had very low mileage and was in good shape for an older car. We got 33 miles to a gallon on our trip home to Virginia.
Why do we share this story of how God has provided for us?
There are two reasons.
The first is to help you understand that God is real and His word never fails.
Paul says in Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
We want you to know that Jesus is real and that He cares for you!
There is nothing special about Carol and me. We are not super saints. The simple truth is that God showed us what we were to do, but our doubt was genuine.
The second is that if you believe God and do what He shows you, He may even clean up some of your mistakes.
We trusted God, but by human standards, it was impossible. My mind filled me with doubt. God had never done so much for me in such a short time. I trusted God, but I doubted myself. Was I hearing what God was saying to me correctly?
Would God clean up a debt that I had incurred? I certainly knew that His word said to owe no man anything.
There has never been a time in Carol’s life or my life when God did not provide everything we needed.
I have believed and lived by this Scripture most of my life. It has always proved true. God had rescued me before, many times, but never like this and never so quickly!
We are both still amazed at this whirlwind event, and the great love He has given us!
Our God is SO GOOD!!
PS. We must add that our honeymoon continues.
Carol is now 76, and I turn 83 this September, and never have we been happier.
Our 12th great-grandchild has joined our combined family of 10 children and 25 grandchildren. Recently, we learned that our church was active with a Christian school in Tanzania. Among their 230 students, there were 47 full orphans, and we have been able to “adopt” 10 of them. We pray for all of our family, including three foster children who still keep in touch and call us Mom and Dad.
God has blessed us indeed!