I thought I was above credit card schemes, really I did. I truly believed with all my might that I had risen above what any creditor or catchy promotion could throw my way. I believed this, until…

I had paid for a majority of my master’s degree tuition on credit cards and paid them off as I went. It was a way to help  build my credit and take advantage of some promotions. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that for the last six months, I had been being charged interest even after a lengthy and too good to be true conversation I had with a man who issued the card. He had assured me that, due to the promotion I had signed up with, it would be interest free. There was a clause though, a tiny astrick that I overlooked. A word to the wise, when it comes to credit cards, there is likely always a clause.

I called the bank a few times and after behaving in a way Jesus probably wouldn’t have, unless we are talking about the story where He flipped some tables in the temple. That story I can relate to. Even with all the pleading and not so nice tones, I realized it was a losing battle and I gave up on trying to get the significant amount of money I had lost over the year.

I had a small group the next night and as we closed in prayer, I brought the situation up and asked them to pray even though the case was already closed. They did. It was simple. I logged off Zoom and decided to give it one more shot.

I don’t remember the lady’s name, but I just referred to her as Angel, because that’s what I felt she was. She refunded every last cent that I had been charged and told me to tell the people who had prayed with me what Jesus had done.

A significant part to this story is that I had paid the credit cards off in full before I made the call. I had done my part and I let God handle the rest. Isn’t that just like Him? We give Him credit where it is due and praise Him when He answers our prayers, but the thing is, we also have to do our part. Faith without works is dead.

So today, give credit where it is due. He deserves the glory for what He has done. Watch what God will do, after you put some feet to your faith.

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” James 2:14-26

Rachel Skirvin is a lover of travel, nachos, and the gospel. She is a graduate of Urshan College and will most likely always call it Gateway. She is pursuing her master’s degree in counseling and human services with an emphasis in trauma and crisis and is currently serving at The Pentecostals of Cooper City in South Florida