Covina Assembly of God: Covina, CA

A God Who Answers

by Jorge Garibay on March 31, 2010

I was raised catholic, but as I grew up I grew apart from church and God to the point that I believed there was no God. Thirty-five years ago, I married my wife Stella, who had a son Ronnie, who was fourteen years old when we were married. They are both devoted followers of the Lord.

On some occasions I would go to church with Stella for example on Mother’s Day, Christmas, and Thanksgiving so that she wouldn’t be alone on those special occasions. During those occasions when I would come to church with her, there would always be another church member that would try to escort me to the altar. When this would happen, it would make me not want to come back, I didn’t want anything to do with the church or God. I just wanted them to leave me alone. When my son or my wife would try to speak to me about God I didn’t want to listen, I did not want anything to do with whatever they said. So they just left me alone so that we wouldn’t get into arguments.

One day about 3 years ago, however, Stella and I were at home, and I noticed that she wasn’t reacting correctly and she wasn’t feeling well either. I rushed her to the doctor and immediately the doctor told me to take her to the hospital, which I did. As soon as they saw her, they took her immediately to get an MRI, thin her blood, and regulate her blood pressure. As they were doing all these tests and procedures, the doctor took me to an office in the hospital and on the computer he showed me the image of her brain which showed many blockages preventing blood from circulating to her brain. He mentioned that it didn’t look good. At that time I felt my world had shattered and I pictured her in a wheelchair, unable to do the things she likes to do or maybe in a bed laying like a vegetable. So in the midst of my emergency, I called out to God and said, “God, she doesn’t deserve something like this. She is a good Christian who has been good to you and everyone that she meets. Please do not let her suffer and end her life in those conditions. Don’t allow her to have any permanent damage.”

For the first time I recognized that even when though the doctors told me one thing God is in control. And after five days of treatment at the hospital, Stella came home on her own two feet with not a single sign of having suffered two strokes. It was as if nothing had happened. I knew there was a God who answered prayers.

Even so, I was still reluctant to listen to God or change my ways. I was always putting business first. After that situation, I didn’t let her drive so I used to take her to church on Sunday mornings. One morning we were late, and as I was leaving I heard a bit of the sermon, which caught my attention so I stayed in the lobby and listened to the sermon. When the service was over, I went outside so that Stella wouldn’t know that I had listened. I did the same thing for the next four weeks. One Sunday I was curious, and I wanted to put a face with the voice I had heard for so many weeks. So I told my wife, “Honey, hurry up! I don’t want to be late for church and I want to go in with you.” She was shocked and surprised and very happy.

From that moment on I haven’t missed a service unless it has been an emergency. Unfortunately it took my wife’s devastating ordeal to make me realize that I was wrong and that there is a God who answers when you ask in faith. I have since been baptized, and I now lead a small group of 20 to 30 in my home each week.