“But this I say, He who soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he who soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Everyman according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (KJV)
The worst culture shock I ever experienced was not when my family and I moved to Austria, Germany, or Japan. It was when we moved from rural Pennsylvania to Northern Virginia. My husband Rick had just gotten a job with the federal government. Our biggest shock was how expensive everything was in this area compared to what we had been used to. At that time, one paycheck a month paid our rent, and we struggled to live off the other. Also, I was a brand new stay-at-home mom with a 3 month old, and I was not bringing in any income.
Having faithfully given to our church our 10% tithe up to that point, we soon decided that we needed that money more than God did and stopped. The ironic thing was we did not have any more money than we did before. It took us 6 months to realize that this was not going to work the way we had hoped. We were beginning to see that maybe we should start trusting God for our needs, so we once again began to tithe.
It was at this point that God showed Himself faithful to us. Not long after this we received some money from a tax refund. At the same time, our church was asking the congregation to donate to a new organ. We decided to give to that fund. Two months later God led us to a house here in Montgomery County for first time homebuyers – just when we were looking to buy. God provided for our needs in a way we never expected. That was the beginning of an incredible journey for my family that has continued to this day.
Please understand, I am not saying that if you give to the church/God you will have that wish list supplied. But in our life, I have seen God provide college tuition when there was none. I have seen God provide when bills came in so that we always paid in full and on time. I have also seen God provide health and protection for my family. He has done many of these things in unusual ways such as overseas tours for us as a family and for Rick individually in Afghanistan. I am no theologian, but it seems to me that there is a correlation here.
God has always been faithful toward us as we have been faithful in our giving. We never won the lottery or received a million dollars out of the blue. However, God has always been there and provided for us. This I know because this is what I have seen in my life.
If you are not tithing because you think (like we did) that you cannot afford it or you need the extra money, I challenge you to begin and see what God will do. I am sure it will be exciting, as well as a blessing for you as it has been for us. Thanks be to God.
~Jeanne Minnick
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