Do you really trust the Lord or do you hold something’s back for you to worry about yourself? Many of us say that we give our worries to the Lord, but are we truly giving it to God? We cannot give them if we remain tense about them. Our hands hold tight to our fears and will relax when we release them.
One of our biggest worries in the world today is money. Especially with the economy and lack of jobs, we just tend to worry a lot! Can we trust God with our money? Years ago, I would say things like, "He doesn't use money, how can he know about it?" or I would say, "I asked Him to help and He hasn't!" In other words, I would ask Him to take my worries but not release them. I have slowly begun to trust through deliberate actions. Each Sunday, I would ask Him what He wanted me to tithe and if I felt comfortable with the figure I would write the check for that amount. Then one Sunday after a week of some extra expenses and still a couple of weeks to go before payday, I asked what He wanted me to tithe I asked if I should pay about 60% of our normal, and I heard "higher". I then asked about 80%, and I heard "higher." Surprised, I asked about 100%, then 120%, then 150%, all with the same answer, “higher”. I began hearing: "Trust me, you'll be blessed". When I reached 200%, I heard him say, "Yes, you will be blessed." I had no idea how we would be blessed and I knew we did not have the money to donate that much. We had never given that much before, but I decided that He knows what’s in store for us and He knows what is safe and what is not safe, so I wrote the check and put it into the offering plate.
That week ended the Pastor Appreciation week for that year and the church had given us a gift certificate to Applebee’s and some cards in their appreciation, but after the tithing, one of the parishioners unexpectedly stopped the service, went up to the pulpit and asked for me to join my husband and him. We were very surprised at this and were totally dumb-founded by this action. We had no idea what was going on. The parishioner handed my husband a small box saying: We just wanted to show you how much we appreciate you two. My husband said, “That is so nice, but you already gave us a dinner!” The parishioner said, “We know, we just felt we needed to give you a little more.” It was a beautiful trinket box from a Christian store. When we opened the box we found a roll of bills.
Later, after the service, we counted the money and found that we received 150% more than we tithed not 5 minutes earlier.
When we are told we can trust God with everything, sometimes we think that doesn't include money but it surely does.
"After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
“Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
“From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Matthew 17:24-27
I know now that I don’t have to worry about what I tithe because God will always bless our faith. I hope you can too.
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