Learning to trust Him who is Unseen

No news is good news. Doesn’t it feel like that sometimes? The accounts are overdrawn time and again; the cafe shifts straggle in, mere pocket money quickly swallowed up by this rushing torrent of expenses; Centrelink, the only reliable source, holds out, changes things up, makes it harder.

And then I realise – something I’ve been trying to tell myself for a long time now, but wasn’t ready to listen.

Centrelink is not our source. It is only a means to for the source. It serves us, for now, but when it stops serving we ought not to be discouraged. Really, it is all God that makes any of this possible. He is preparing us for greater things, and so many images and ‘wisdoms’ come up on Facebook each day reminding me that this is truly how it works: things get tough for a little while, right before you are sent soaring into an exciting new chapter in life.

It started on our first day at our new church. We both looked at each other as the message closed and the worship team took up their instruments again.

“We need to tithe” – spoken almost simultaneously. God-inspired, surely, as the message hadn’t been about tithing at all and yet we both felt convicted. Convinced. We were in such a desperate, hopeless situation with our money, the only thing that made sense now was to give a portion back to God – and finally acknowledge that we had put our faith in the government, in finding work, in our madly scrabbling human efforts…. when all along God was right there trying to tell us that the earth and everything in it is His (Psalm 24).

And then it came. A gentle trickle turning to a fast-flowing river of signs. Things people said, Bible verses stumbled upon, plans spontaneously brought about through God-leading that brought us to the right people at the right time with the right message.

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

Tell me these are not words you can live your life by! There is so much to be gained from tithing.

• The weekly reminder that God alone supplies your need, and that you can trust our omniscient, omnipotent Creator to give us just what we need!
• People from all around have shared stories how tithing has opened up the door to blessings in their lives – not always financial, but often even more meaningful.
• The community is touched by tithing. The church has the funds to run programs, to reach out to people, to help those who are vulnerable. Non-religious people tithe, too! Apparently it’s not all too uncommon for someone who is not religious to pick a favourite charity organisation and tithe to them. Again, people throughout the community benefit.

We don’t know yet what God has in store for us, except that he has given us big dreams, visions of advancing his Kingdom, and we believe firmly that this is what he drawing us on to. For how could we carry out his big plans, if we trembled with fear in just our small circumstances? He is building our faith, our courage and our willingness to be obedient, even when it’s hard.

Praise God!