Miracle Story | God Honored My Persistence - Episode 23
Not long after God helped me retrieve my stolen car, that car and my other one were repossessed. I was making the payments and was current, but on one car there was an unpaid late fee that I was unaware of.
The credit union where I had worked held the loans. Gossip got around that my finances were unstable, and with the one late fee, they had the legal right to repossess my cars. An attack by the enemy, yes, but not the credit union. The dark enemy that the world fights against every day.
There were still major, major life situations going on in my life. I was juggling them and several other things. It was but for the grace of God that I came through that period. I just kept praying and leaning on Him.
When they repossessed my two cars, I was shocked. Could that be right? Since I had friends still at the credit union, I called one and they said that they had become afraid that I wouldn’t pay back the loans, even though my actual payments were on time. I honestly couldn’t believe it.
Just a few months prior, I had dropped my debit card in an airport in Houston, and the person who found it spent as much as they could. I did not know it had been stolen until the next morning. I had flown to New Jersey late and didn’t need the card until the next day since I always used a company card for work.
As soon as I noticed it, I called the credit union and told the lady who handled the cards. I told her the date and time I last remembered using it, and she cut it off there and reimbursed all charges after that. But what neither of us thought at the time was that even though that was the chronological cut-off time, many charges I had made prior to that were still coming through.
She took it to the CEO of the credit union, and they decided I was committing fraud and that my card was never stolen at all. They never even came to me and asked me about it. They just turned it all over to the authorities and filed charges against me.
When I got the notice, I did not know what was going on. I was finally able to get with them and work with them, and it all got sorted. It was as much the lady at the credit union’s fault as it was mine. Neither of us thought that all my charges might not have come in.
That incident factored into their overall decision to repo my cars. They didn’t trust me even though I had a good credit score, money in their bank, and had never defaulted on any loan. I had also worked there faithfully for a long time. But there were people there who had never liked me since I had been promoted to positions they had hoped to obtain.
Back to the car episode, I had no car. I traveled extensively for work, always flying or renting a car or some such thing. I would get a taxi to the airport, and then if I needed to drive to a location, I would rent a car. But on a day-to-day basis when I was home, I had no transportation.
Soon after the cars were repossessed, more massive debt started to cave in. Huge medical bills in relation to one of the other major life events I spoke of earlier came crashing in. There were several other things piling up astronomically; the enemy attacks were not slowing down. My credit score was still good and my bills were being paid… so far, but I felt like I saw the writing on the wall and decided to file for bankruptcy.
I must admit here I was bone tired both physically and certainly emotionally and when I say I saw the writing on the wall, I was not seeing through eyes of faith, but my own carnal eyes that expected the worst and was looking for a way to get myself out of the mess I found myself in.
Looking back, I know in my heart that had I leaned into God, he would have helped me get out from under everything without filing for bankruptcy. I can say without a doubt that it was one of the worst decisions I ever made. That unfortunate decision followed me painfully for years.
It took several months, but my major debt was gone. I still had to pay my mortgage and a few other things, which I don’t remember now. But I didn’t own a car, which meant that I was stranded at home when at home. I couldn’t beg, borrow, or steal a ride from anyone either. For some reason, no one close to me had any sympathy for me.
So, I often walked several blocks to the grocery store and only got a very few things at a time since I would have to carry them back home. It took about six months for the bankruptcy to be discharged. Until that time, I was in limbo and frozen, unable to do anything financially. To top it off, I was still dealing with other major life events that just wouldn’t seem to resolve. It was one of the lowest points in my life.
Because the credit union that held the car loans repossessed my cars, they also closed my accounts, taking what little I had and applied the money toward the car balances. In doing that, they put some type of black mark in the banking system against me, which meant I couldn’t open another bank account anywhere. Also they may never have rescinded the filing against me for fraud, which had already been resolved.
I remember one day going into a local bank, close enough that I could walk to, and tried to open an account. The man looked over at me and said, “We can’t open you an account; it says here you are a very, very bad person.” I can’t tell you how I felt at hearing those words.
But I was finally able to open some type of internet account that gave me a debit card since I would have my paychecks automatically deposited. The grace of God helping me.
Once the bankruptcy had been discharged, I decided I would try to get a car. I knew it was probably futile because of the bankruptcy and the two repossessions, my closed accounts, and who knows what else, but I tried anyway.
I couldn’t go to any of the dealerships, so I got on the phone and started calling every dealership in town. I told them the entire story, and each one laughed in my face and ridiculed me, saying it would be years before anyone would give me a lone to get a car. I can’t even remember how many did the same thing. Laughing at and ridiculing me.
But I didn’t give up. I don’t know why I was so persistent, but what did I have to lose? I kept praying to God to help me get a car. Then, finally, at a dealership just a few blocks from the house, the guy there actually listened to my story and didn’t laugh. He pulled up my credit report and looked it over while we were on the phone. He commented I had had a great credit score before all the issues and I agreed.
He said he thought he could get me a loan. There were two different new cars on the lot that I could pick from and just come on down and sign the papers. I was dumbstruck. I asked him to confirm what he had just said. Yes, I had heard right; I just needed to come down and pick out a car.
I walked down to the dealership and picked out my brand-new car. All the way there, tears of gratitude washed down my face. I wasn’t getting an old clunker from one of those buy now pay later places with 20% interest; I was getting a brand-new car with only a slightly higher interest rate.
After calling multitudes of places that laughed in my face, God led me to someone who was kind and understanding, and I believe He urged them to help me out. But what if I hadn’t been persistent? What if I had taken on a fatalistic attitude and not even tried? If I had given up, I am not sure I would have gotten that new car and with it a way to build back my credit. I kept that car for years and made every payment on time.
The major life issues continued to press in on me for a while, but this once again reaffirmed that God was truly watching over me and helping me get through. We need to make the best decisions that we can, but sometimes when we are under immense pressure we simply don’t, can’t. But that doesn’t deter God or stop him from coming to our aid. He genuinely loves us, and if we stay in communication with him, trusting the best that we can, then he will always be there for us.
This study is a culmination of this week’s Monday Meditation and the Wednesday Word Study. By drilling down on specific scriptures and then specific words, we can begin to gain a better understanding of the Word of God and therefore apply it to our lives more accurately. The Friday Finally episodes take both the Monday Meditation and Wednesday Word Study and pull them together for an overall teaching to equip and train us for a more Godly and beneficial life.
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Friday Finale - Rules That Break Fellowship – Episode 10
