Heavenly Treasures

I normally don’t participate in lent, but this year I decided that I wanted to do something that would test my faith and draw me closer to the Lord. I had really been challenged to trust God in my finances and to increase my offering. I had heard a sermon series a few weeks before lent, but I was scared to increase my tithe. For lent, I decided that I would tithe 12% from everything that came in. I normally just gave from my paychecks, but I decided that everything is God’s so a percent of everything should go back to Him. This was a scary step in faith because so much of my security comes from my money.

God has been SO faithful. This is the one things God asks us to test Him in and I’m so glad that I did. Every single week I have had money come in to tithe with. I can assure you that this is not normal. I used to just get paid twice a month and I would give from that, but EVERY week since lent, God has blessed me with money to give back to His kingdom. The past two weeks I reached a point where I was thinking- this will be the first week I won’t have money to tithe and literally, the same day I was thinking that, money came in. On one occasion my paycheck came through early and another my grandparents randomly (or not so randomly) sent me money. Every time I received money I was blown away with God’s faithfulness. Other things have been happening too. There have been weeks where I go out with people and they pay for my things – which is not a common thing because we’re all in college so no one has a lot of money!

A week before lent was over I was at a CCH sermon about money in the Bible. I was so encouraged from the sermon because I understood what Tyler was talking about. At the end of the sermon, CCH passed out a book, The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. I came home and read the book and my perspective was changed even more. Alcorn talks about how we should be generous with our money. He explains how God owns everything and we are just stewards of His money. Instead of storing up treasures of this world, we should be storing up our treasures in heaven. The treasures of this world will pass away. This book and my experience with my tithe have changed my perspective on how I spend my money and what I stress about. I’ve realized I have had so much more joy in my life because I know that God is in control of everything. I no longer put my security in my bank account number, but in the Lord. I really, really strongly encourage you to read this book. It is only 6 chapters; super short and it can seriously change your life.

In the book, Alcorn talks about a man who’s faith was deepened because he started giving what was rightfully God’s back to Him. He said that as fast as he was handing his money out to those who needed it most, God was blessing him and giving it right back to him. I feel that this has been my own experience. At the beginning when I would write my checks to the church I was like “Really God, that’s a lot of my money, I am kind of nervous, but I am trusting You.” But every time I was faithful to God and kept my promise, He just blessed me by always providing what I needed. I’m not saying that you should increase your tithe so that God will pour money back into your bank account… Alcorn explains it using scripture. God has supplied us with some much so that we may bless others. “Your plenty will supply what you need…. You will be made rich…so that you can be generous on every occasion.” (2 Corinthians 8:14; 9:11)

When we are using our money to give back to the Kingdom, whether that is through tithing or through blessing those in need, it only makes sense that God will continue to give us more because we are spending it in the way He intended it to be used. He can trust us and know that we have an understanding of where our money should be going. I’m so happy that I decided to test the Lord through tithing during this past lent season and my hope is to continue increasing my tithe over the years. The Lord is SO faithful in keeping His promises. Hallelujah! J