God Stories: Tithing

Recently, our church asked us to send in our God Stories.  I have so many stories about how God has worked in my life and is continuing to work, that I think I could fill my own book!  You know, I just might do that!  I might write enough blogs that I can put them together for a book of my own one day. 

I'm one of those slightly OCD people that loves lists!  I like to make lists of chores that need to be done, of things that need to be bought, people I need to touch base with, things I've accomplished today, this week, whenever ..... the possibilities are endless.  I even like books of lists.  I have a collection of "Lists to Live By" books and can read them over and over.

So, my thinking today is, why not bring together some of my favorite things on my blog?  I can make a list of God stories, share the stories and try to bring God Glory in some small way, all at the same time.  Also, I love to talk, so I get to talk all I want all at the same time!

Hope you enjoy!  Comments are welcome, either way.

Once upon a time, Kev and I were very young, newly weds.  He was 21 and I was 20.  We thought we were so grown up at the time, but really, we were just babes!  We attended a church and gave a little bit of money every week, but hadn't really experienced tithing on a regular basis.

One Sunday, this "rich" guy who was one of the leaders in our church, stood up and shared about tithing.  He said tithing was the only thing in the Bible that God said we could test Him on.  He went on to share that it was a spiritual exercise, a form of worship and we would see how God takes care of us and that there is no way you can outgive God.  This all sounded well and good to me, but a little voice in my head was saying,"sure that's pretty easy for you rich folks, but some of us are doing good to keep the lights on", you know?

Well, the guy took his talk one step further and actually challenged us to give our tithe for one year.  If at the end of the year, we were not better off financially and spiritually, he would personally give us our money back?!  Can you believe that?  I saw dollar signs in my head and started thinking about how nice it would be to give our tithe all year (and thus feel so good about our giving) and then get it all back this time next year!  Win/Win, right? Wow!  I could buy a used car with that money or pay off some debt or take a vacation ... my "list" went on and on!

So, long story short, we began tithing that week and somehow God made our money stretch further than it ever had and we were never without anyhing we needed and most of what we wanted.

 It was supernatural and can only be explained by God keeps His promises.

 He simply outgives us every time. 

So, we didn't need to hit the guy up for a refund after all.  Blew my mind! 

We have tried to tithe consistently ever since and would highly recommend this act of worship to anyone who has never tried it.