INSPIRATIONAL

 Overcomer - Psalm1

My husband and I both had difficult lives in the province when we were young. We worked to support our studies and sought, to the point of begging, for relatives' help in cases when our earnings would not suffice.. When we both graduated from college, we moved to Makati for more stable jobs. Because we had families to support, our salaries were never enough. We resorted to borrowing to support even our extended families.

When we got married, we never discussed about finances. My husband did not know that I had a lot of debts to pay, and I did not know about his. Since we were both working, we were able to conceal this for a long time. I continued supporting my family and my husband continued to support his. We shared on our expenses without much planning and consultation. The several credit cards we had, helped alleviate our financial burdens for a while, until one day, it just dawned on us that we were down deep in a pit of helplessness. The banks were threatening to sue me for long over-due credit card bills; I was losing face already in the office since my creditors were bombarding me with collection notices almost everyday.

I could not share my problem with my husband for fear that he might seriously take it against me. And even if I would, my husband would not be of help since his net take-home pay could not afford additional credit. Meanwhile my debts were piling up exponentially, as interests soared each time I missed payments. I also reached the point when I had to use Company money to temporarily appease some of my creditors. Ironically, I had to continue sending money to my family in the province, otherwise, they would skip meals and my nieces and nephews, would skip their school.

We were already attending the church then. I  accepted Christ as my personal savior and my husband also did. Every time we went to church on Sundays, even If I could not enjoy the praise and worship portion nor understand the preachers' message (my mind was consumed with my problems) , I would always whisper to God to help me in my troubles. But each day that passed, I felt my problem was getting worse and worse.

For whatever reason, my husband and I joined the Couples Ministry and one of the sisters from time to time visited me at home. I don't remember how it came to a point that at one time, I shared my problems with her- something I could not even share to my own husband.  And she would visit me in our house from time to time and we would pray together.. It actually helped that I got to open up even though my problems persisted.

One faithful day, my husband was on his way to Davao and I felt so depressed that I thought of ending my life. Surprisingly, my husband upon reaching the airport decided not to push through with his trip and went home instead. When I saw him, I could not anymore keep my burdens and I burst into tears. I thought that was God's way of saying, "Don't end up your life- I have better plans for your family.". That same day, I opened up with my husband and I could sense his deep concern but at the same time,  I felt that he was terribly affected.

We prayed together on that day and started talking about what resources we could  tap. The next days were fast. We went to the banks and asked for moratoriums and talked to other creditors for special settlement arrangements. It was difficult and risky because you have to commit when and how much to pay. When we made those commitments, we did not know where to get the resources, but we thought it was better than allowing the interest to accumulate further. We prayed every day and night for God's wisdom and guidance.

We went home to the province and talked to our families about our situation. It was disheartening to break that news but we could not support them anymore since we ourselves needed more help. We regularly attended the Couples Ministry fellowships and the Sunday Services. These had much more meaning to us than before. We felt the heavens opened up for us and each time we fellowshipped with other Christians, we developed more hunger and thirst in God's word. We were very excited about how God would work in each event, in each activity.

We checked on anything that we could sell and there was none except a lot which we paid in installment for about 5 years. We offered it for sale several times but nobody took it. Meanwhile, our time was running out- the deadlines given by our creditors were fast approaching.

One day, my husband discovered that he had a stock award from his Company given years back. When he computed the gains we would have when he sells the stocks, the amount was roughly, the value of all our over-due debts. It was his first and only time to avail of his stock grant. He immediately sold the stocks and to God's glory, we were liberated from our debts.

A few days after getting the proceeds from our sale, we learned that the value of the stocks plummeted to an unprecedented level. God in His perfect timing mastered it all. Had we been late even by just a few days, we would have ended up not getting even a single centavo.

Looking back, we learned a lot in our walk with God. And His ways are different from ours. When we stopped helping our families, our siblings learned to stand on their own and while occasionally, they will still seek help, they exhaust first all their means before asking help from anyone. Even their dignity as individuals is enhanced. And for me and my husband, we realized that during those difficult times God did not leave us nor forsake us. Even those times when we thought God was not hearing our cries, our whispers - He was silently setting the stage for our eventual victory over our weaknesses. He did not only fix our finances, more importantly, He fixed our family and our marriage. He did not only send us people who would minister to us; He also sent to us  a  Ministry which has become part of our lives. We had been holding on to God's promises since then and since He talked to us through Psalm 1.

Sis. Mayven Idian