GIVE

I have often heard that the topic of giving and tithing is the hardest for any preacher to preach.  We were visiting a church this weekend, and "giving" was the topic of the sermon for the day.  The preacher did a wonderful job in my opinion.  As the former bookkeeper of our last church, I can tell you that giving is vital in every church.  A church cannot grow if everyone holds on to their blessings.

Now I am not about to start my own sermon here.  The Lord commanded us to tithe, which means give 10%, and that is what my family believes in.  I just simply want to share a story that I have shared several times.  

My husband and I were in prayer about whether I should become a full time stay-at-home-mom.  I felt the Lord calling me to do so.  Would it be scary financially?  Definitely!  Could He take care of us?  Without a doubt!  Our daughter was about four and half months old.  She was in daycare and had become very sick and was actually taken to the hospital with a spiked fever and difficulty breathing.  It was scary!  Was this the final call to stay at home?  I had gone back to work simply for the insurance purposes.  My husbands job did not have a good insurance plan, and we felt insurance was important to have.  Through many new doors that could have only be opened by God, we were now going to be covered by a great insurance plan through my husband's work.  It was a blessing and a sure sign to begin the process of staying home!

I remember standing outside on my lunch break on the phone with my husband.  I said, "I feel the Lord will bless us if we obey and take this step of faith.  I know if we continue to give He will continue to provide."

The Lord did bless us in an uncountable number of ways!  Just a few months after quitting my job, the topic of Faith Promise was addressed in our church.  This is a way some churches support missionaries to other countries.  This is also considered to be giving above and beyond your tithes.  My husband filled out the slip of paper with our monthly contribution promise.  I was in the nursery and was not part of the discussion.  We got home and I remember saying, you said we would give that a month!!!!  I couldn't believe he would consider doing this with me not working anymore.  It was not a huge amount, but would we be able to give anything on one income?  We had to since we had just made a "promise" to give it.

I came to peace with it later the next day.  Once again, we had to trust.  And, we know the vital work missionaries do have to be supported by us back in the States.  Do you know what happened that week?  We received a small check that was not expected (actually for a small blurb I wrote for a magazine that was published), and we received a gift card to a grocery store.  Two blessings in one week.  I believe it was God's way of telling us to keep giving and He would keep giving to us!

Today's Verse
Luke 6:38a "Give, and it shall be given unto you..."

 My preacher growing up as a child, gave a wonderful example one Sunday night that I will never forget (even though I was only about 8 or 9).  We give the Lord our little spoonful, and He will in turn give us back a shovel full.  I am not saying you are promised riches if you give, but He does reward obedience.  Let's promise to give to our Lord; look at ALL HE GAVE just for us!