“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Psalm 3:5 NIV

” And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Phillipians 4:19 NIV

God spoke to me this morning as I was talking to him. He has been opening my eyes to his ways a lot in the last fourteen years. I can understand how blind we can be at times. Going through life day by day it’s easy to get focused on ourselves and our daily struggles. It took him bringing me to a place where my every breath was up to him.

He has taught me so much about how he works. As I was growing up my father and grandfather taught me so much about giving to God first. Tithing was something they had learned was very important and they always saw his blessings through it. So as I began working I tried to continue that tradition.

When I got married and it was no longer just my money I felt it was more important to submit to my husband and let him be the head of the house. He always felt there were so many bills and never enough left over for God. That’s where he was wrong. But it wasn’t up to me to correct him. That’s God’s job.

What we need to understand is that God has commanded us to give and he has very good reasons. We also need to understand that God knows everything. He is not ever going to ask us to do anything that is not good for our best. He has promised to work everything for our best. That’s all the good and bad.

I had to get to a place where I had nothing so I could see that the little I gave was blessed.

I remember the story of the widows mites from when I was a child. This poor widow gave two copper coins as her offering, they were only worth less than a penny but it was all she had. Jesus saw how much it was to her when others gave large amounts and didn’t even miss it.

Many people have been blessed with a lot of money. Some aren’t Christians and know nothing about tithing but they give large amounts away to hospitals, research, even feeding children in other countries. They have learned the blessings of giving. God can use them just as easily as Christians.

First we need to understand it is not our money anyway. When we were born we had nothing and when we die we take nothing. Who was the first person? Adam but everything he ever had was given to him by God. God promised to always give us all we need. He knows all so he knows how to do it. We don’t need to know how.

If you try to make a budget first it will never make sense. His economy does not work the way we can understand. He is looking out for billions of people’s needs all at once. This last week I got to go to a convention for leadership training. They spoke of a need in one of our churches for a food pantry. This remote city had limited resources and great needs.

I felt God speak to me to give an amount. My mind told me how will you do that? My heart told me, ‘God can use me as well as anyone else and I want the blessings he has for my life. He obviously knows more than me. So I gave.

He can bring blessings into my life through unexpected sources. Gifts, inheritance, unexpected money from many places. I am supported by social security. They pay for all of my needs since I became disabled. Leaving me with $100 a month for clothes and miscellaneous needs.

That is not much but after Christmas last year I felt so blessed. I got so much I did not expect from others that I have no needs. The food has been great lately and I haven’t even needed the snacks I used to buy and keep around. My shampoo and other supplies seem to go a lot farther than normal.

I give my tithe every month and wish I could do more. Some months he does ask me to do more. I give and he supplies the need. It is so much more blessed to give than to receive. You can even test God in this one area and see just how impossible it is to outlive God.