Tithing Part 2

Let me tell you a very interesting story about tithing. I had began tithing after I got saved. I made it a point to round up my tithing, because when it comes to tithing I want God to round up for me (figuratively speaking, of course). I had trouble tithing when I first decided to. There was no possible way that I could, but God had given me a life again so I owed it to Him to step out in faith. So I put my trust in Him, and tithed 10%. It worked out in the end.

I will tell that story in another blog entitled Tithing Part 1. I know that it probably should have came before a blog entitled Tithing Part 2, but it will not. I guess that I am not very good at chronological order, nor am I able to do simple addition very well. That for me would be true to form, because I have never been that great at history or math. Math was actually the only non-A grade on my transcript for my Associates Degree. Segue over, now on to the story.

After I got saved, the song "I'm Not Who I Was" impacted me. You could say that it was my anthem as a drug addicted convict who found hope and changed my life completely. I no longer was who I used to be. I found out that Brandon Heath, Francesca Battistelli and Leeland were performing in Springfield. The tickets were $10 for general admission, or $50 for VIP tickets. I wanted to get the VIP tickets, because with them came a meet and greet. I wanted the opportunity to give my testimony to Brandon Heath and let him know how much his song had impacted my life.

So when my paycheck came, I payed my bills and then set aside my tithe. After doing that I discovered that after my car and insurance payments came out the following week and after I tithed on Sunday I would not have the $100 to get the VIP tickets for my fiance and me. I would have the $20 for regular tickets, but not the extra $80 for the ones that I wanted.

I made a promise to myself and to God when I had gotten saved about tithing, and I was not about to backslide. The last thing that I wanted to do was lie to the one that I owed my new life to. I lied in my addiction, not in my recovery. I was not about to begin lying again. I refuse to give the Devil a place to start getting back in to my life. I worked for two decades to get him out of it. At least, that is how I see it.

So I went to church and tithed and tithed on Sunday. It was one of the hardest decisions that I had made in my early recovery, other than tithing at all. It did not make sense to me to give my money to God and the church at first. In Tithing I I will look at the Biblical reasons that I began tithing when I first got saved.

I just decided that seeing Brandon Heath would be amazing enough without meeting him, and that is what I was going to do. I loved his music, and really enjoyed the other two performers that he was touring with. I would tithe, and the following week I was going to see the concert with my fiance. I would buy the tickets the following day after I got off of work.

The next day I went home after work, changed and grabbed my mail before going to get my tickets. In the mail was a letter from my car company. I was in the middle of filing bankruptcy, and my car company wanted to give me the option to finish paying off  my car instead of writing it off. The letter said that the automatic payment that they would normally be taking out in two days was not coming out. I needed to fill out papers that stated I still wanted to buy the car. They were willing to allow me to miss a car payment and were dropping the percentage rate of my car loan if I completed the paperwork and called them. Not only was I able to not pay my car payment for that month, but the drop in the interest rate they were giving me dropped my car payment almost $100 a month.

To this day, I do not know why I went home and changed, or why I got my mail and opened it immediately. I never went home and changed, nor did I ever get the mail. I always let my roommate get the mail out of the mailbox and would grab it off of the end table where he put my mail. On that day I did not. To me, this was all a God thing. This was God showing me that if I put my trust in Him, He would provide for not only my needs but some of my wants.

Needless to say, I got to go to the Brandon Heath concert. It was amazing, and so was telling him my testimony. That too is another blog that I will write someday in the future. Cannot wait to share with you tomorrow morning. Hope that this week is a blessing for all of you!