Some might say the timing is a coincidence. Some might say it’s irony. I fully believe it’s the hand of God.
On Monday I wrote how I’ve been struggling. Struggling with frugality, struggling with time for God. There’s a bit more to the story, both before and after what I wrote on Monday.
We went to church on Sunday. I’ve written before that I fully believe in tithing. I still do. But this month was going to be so tight that for the first time in a long time, I had a hard time writing that tithe check. But I wrote it. And I prayed. I prayed for God to give me the faith to trust Him with our finances again. And I prayed that some way, some how, he would make our money stretch.
Nevertheless, I was worried about the expenses coming up. We need to pay for my daughter’s choir fee. And my flute needs to be fixed, before she can play it in band. And my blog income has taken a hit. I knew we could pay for everything, but it was going to be difficult. And I wasn’t sure what September would bring.
Then I wrote my post Monday. I honestly and truly did not write it to gain sympathy. But you were all so wonderful with your words and your prayers. I have the best readers in the world, and you were truly an encouragement to me. That’s the first time God spoke. And He used you.
Later Monday afternoon I was finishing up my Tightwad Tuesday post. I sent my daughter out to get the mail, and she brought it in and dumped it on the bed. There were three envelopes from the mortgage company.
We refinanced last month to get a much better interest rate. The first envelope was a copy of our orignial agreement, reading paid in full. In the second envelope was a tax and insurance disclosure statement. I skimmed it and opened the third envelope.
In the third envelope was a check. A check big enough to replenish what was left of our baby emergency fund and give us a little breathing room. I almost cried. Not because we were in need of the money that desperately. We could have done without.
Rather, I almost cried because of the perfect timing of it all. Me, wrestling with whether to do the right thing, and choosing to do so and trust God. Then God coming back to let me know He’s got it all under control. Letting me know that I needn’t worry.
In church on Sunday, our pastor preached on the disciples that witnessed Christ’s transfiguration and how amazing that must have been. I think, no, I know I’ve received a small, personalized glimpse of the true awesomeness of my Savior.
I have been reading many of the articles here and found some sense of peace which I need so badly right now. I’ve been looking for answers into our very very dire financial circumstances and felt that I might find some of those answers here. Even though there was no instantaneous miracle words for me, I felt better reading on anyway. The main reason I came to this site was to read about tithing which is something I’ve been very remiss in all my life, and have felt very convicted about. You see, my husband and I are terrible at managing money, made some very poor choices over our 18 yr. marriage and now we are about to lose our van which we have leased for 4 yrs. but no one will lend us the money to buy it out, and it is our only vehicle, the only transportation my husband has to go to work 30 miles away. We are also most likely going to lose our home as we have missed 2 mortgage payments and the bank is saying they will start foreclosure on it right away. We have not been able to keep up with our bills and yet we are not extravagent people. We have 4 children, 2 grown and gone but 2 teens still at home, and it hurts me so much for them, I’m also very ashamed and embarrassed. I am a Christian who tries very hard to serve the Lord and have prayed fervently for over a year now that God would send us a financial miracle, a fresh start, but so far He has not answered these prayers. Please, would some of you please pray for me and my family? I am sick with anxiety and worry, and just don’t see any light at the end of that dark tunnel.
I’ve been on both sides – not tithing out of fear and being faithful to tithe regardless of circumstances. I can tell you from experience that faithful tithing is the only [and best!] way to live. We can NEVER outgive the Father, and He delights in our obedience to His word to tithe of our resources, whatever we have to give – whether it’s money, time, talents, service to others.