After I decided to retire at the end of 2015, my husband and I gave a lot of thought to how that decision would affect our finances. One of the things we considered was how much it would affect our annual pledge to the church. After giving it some thought, we decided to reduce our giving by $100.00 a month; an amount that would still enable us to tithe, based on a lesser income. We changes our minds at the beginning of the new year, when as a member of the finance committee at church, I learned that due to the death of some long time members and major contributors to the church, and various other reasons, our church had a serious deficit based on reduced pledges for the new new year.
At the beginning of the month, I had written out a check for the reduced amount of the monthly pledge we had decided to make for this year. However, in light of the news of our church’s financial deficit, I decided to take a step in faith, and write a second check for the additional $100.00, to make it equal to amount we pledged the previous year when I was employed. Prior to my retirement, my Human Resources representative told me I would not be eligible a fourth quarter Wellness Incentive which I had accumulated for taking part in physical and health related activities, since I would not be on the job when the incentives were paid out. Much to my surprise, I received a check in the mail for just under $150.00 for my fourth quarter Wellness Incentive; an amount over and above the amount of the additional $100.00 check I had written to the church.
Based on my study of God’s word, and personal relationship with Him, I do not, for one minute, consider this to be a coincidence. As a result of His grace, the following scripture came to mind:
“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 there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10) NIV
No matter what the future holds, I have decided to continue to give the additional $100.00 a month over and above my pledge for the new year, not because I expect additional blessings, but because of God’s grace and generosity in teaching me this very important lesson. He is completely trustworthy, and true to His word.