Lisa Alfaro attends the Atlanta First Hispanic Church in Tucker, Georgia. She and her husband had decided to start a construction company, and needed a truck. The payments on the vehicle were high, and suddenly, for circumstances that were beyond their control, her husband was forced to stop working. Since Lisa could not afford the car payments, she took another loan until her husband could start working again. By the time he could go back to work, they realized the car they were paying for had to be replaced, but they could not afford to buy another one. Someone showed interest in that car, but did not have the money. Because of that, they made a deal: he would make payments on the car, and Lisa and her husband would keep it until he finished paying. The deal looked convenient on both ends, and the Alfaros would be able to work on paying off their car loans.
With all these situations going on in her life, Lisa had been thinking about her relationship with God, and realizing it had been going downhill for a while. She did not feel comfortable, and decided to pray for a change. Little by little she began to feel stronger, and was very happy about that. Everything seemed to be working.
Finally, their car buyer finished the payments. They had hoped that by then they would have already paid off their loans, but that was not the case. Stress started to build up again. On top of it, Lisa’s husband had experienced an accident at work, broken his hand, and had to stop working again. Lisa was upset. Why, she wondered, when she’d decided to mend her spiritual life, would God allow something like this to happen to her? It did not seem fair. Their finances were at risk again. Now, they were not going to be able to pay their loans off, and yet they had to give their car to the buyer and get another car. Where was God in all this?
Since her husband’s accident had happened at work, the company filed a claim with workers’ compensation insurance. One day when things seemed to be getting worse, Lisa went to pick up the mail, and found an envelope from the insurance company. To her surprise, it came with a check, and the amount was enough to pay off both loans, and have a little extra money to help them go through this situation. At that moment, she clearly saw God’s work. The accident seemed like a tragedy, but in reality turned out to be a blessing. They would have not been able to quickly pay off those loans as they had planned, even with her husband working.
God works in mysterious ways. There is always a way out, and sometimes that way is unexpected. Lisa decided to seek the Lord, and He showed Himself through His mercy and care.
“But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” Matthew 6:33 NIV.
is the SURF customer service and accounts manager at the Southern Union Conference in Norcross, Georgia.
Southern Union | December 2018
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