a note on faith

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. - Malachi 3:10

Did you know that is the only place in the Bible that God asks you to test him? For five years I have been listening to that verse and the messages that go along with it. Aout 16 months ago, I took it to heart and began to tithe. Until recently, I would teeter-totter between being happy to give and being resentful that we could use that money. I have never touched or altered our tithe. We have been faithful in this since we began to do it. I heard a couple testimonies on this subject, and I always thought it sounded strange. People would get-up in front of our church and talk about how tithing changed their lives - like money would show-up out of nowhere and they would be able to pay their bills and they were never in need, because God always provided. I thought that was all good and fine, but that it was a little on the "hoakey" side. It's not that I didn't believe God was capable of doing that, I just didn't think it happened exaclty how they said it did.

About a year ago, Justin and I noticed that we never seem to have a problem making ends meet. In fact, about 6 months ago, we were riding really high and things seemed great on the financial side of things, we were able to pay down debt and put money away into our savings. We kept on tithing, but it wasn't a struggle for us. It was a sacrifice, but not a struggle. We also started to see the strange ways that God would come through for us, like when we got a strange customer appreciation check from AAA or when our church paid for some design software, because they believe in me. When I started Bean Creative, we watched our savings go down, down and down. About a month ago I started to get really scared and believe me, the tithe we were giving would have helped our situation greatly. Tithing became a huge struggle for us, but we were faithful. Last week, God spoke to me in my quiet time:

Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously, will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under complusion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:6-7

And it struck me: I haven't been giving joyfully, I have been giving reluctantly. I was obediant, but my heart still belonged to that tithe. So, just when I was ready to give-up the business and get a "normal" job, my family group asked me about it - and I broke-down in tears. I told them that I was so scared, because I didn't know at what point it was time to turn-around. I told them that I didn't know if God was telling me to quit, because He had something else in mind. I was so sad and so scared, because I love my business and I feel like it's a part of my big dream. My family group prayed over me and for the first time in weeks, I felt a sense of peace. I decided right then and there that, from now on, I would be happy to give God back what was His to begin with.

I shared this with Justin as we ran our errands after Bible study and we felt good about where we were. We were just thankful that there was still money in savings and that we wouldn't worry about the rest, until we got there. On our way home, we picked-up our mail. As it turned-out Justin got a notice from Verizon (his old employer) that his bonds had vested before he left and they wanted to send him his money.

We stared at each other for a long time - silent. Surely, this was a joke. It wasn't. On the very day I decided to be joyful, we were blessed beyond our imagination. (I have to tell you that Justin has always been a joyful giver - ever since that first month when he decided to give tithing a try and we never went back.) It doesn't stop with Verizon. My big check came in on Saturday and today my bank gave me an American Express gift card - just for opening my business checking there, which means we have some Christmas shopping money. On top of that, I had 2 people call me with orders and one person refer me out today. Praise God! I know God is moving all around us. He is faithful with those who are faithful with him. I just feel lucky to see God in this way.

Now, I want to say a quick word on why we give. We do not give, because we expect to get back. We give, because God commands it of us and because we truly believe that all we have is His. One day, we will give more than the 10%, because we know, with God's help, we will be blessed enough to do that.