In 2015, my husband and I moved across the country. From teaching in the south to teaching in the north, we were excited for the future. We had been married a little over a year when it was time to load the moving truck and make the journey. We went into the unknown—my husband had a job, but I did not. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I knew that I needed to make more income than I had been if we were going to make it in our new home.
Fast forward to three months later and, despite spending hours searching, I still hadn’t found the right position. I didn’t even get interviews. I would apply and my applications would land in the vague world of automated emails.
As a newly married couple, we were still finding our footing paying bills, including tithe. Given our challenging financial situation, we initially inconsistently paid tithe. When our finances got even tighter upon moving north, we stopped altogether.
Enter the tithe challenge. Our pastor introduced the concept during a sermon one Sabbath morning. God calls us to “prove” Him. So, if we would give a faithful tithe for 40 days, the church promised to give it back if we were not blessed because of our faithful tithe return. My husband and I discussed it and we decided to give it a shot. After all, if it was too hard, we could get our money back!
I finally got a part time job making minimum wage working for Michaels, Inc. Yes, the craft store. Yes, it was a blow to my ego. Yes, I enjoyed it! While I was working there, I also got an interview with a large company based in St. Paul. I was really excited. It would be a step up, career-wise, and it would pay well. At the same time, I was advised to apply for the administrative assistant position at the Conference office.
I didn’t want the job at the Conference office. It was a $10,000 pay cut from my first job out of college. I was overeducated and overqualified for the position. I felt it would be bad for my career.
After the sixth person asked me to consider the job at the Conference, I begrudgingly agreed to submit an application. A previous mentor told me once that if three people, unprompted and individually, told her something important, she believed it was God calling her to attention. After being told six times, I thought … maybe God wants me to pay attention.
I had multiple interviews with the firm in St. Paul and one interview with the Conference administration. I was unofficially offered the job in St. Paul, and after leaving the interview at the Conference office, I was officially offered the job that same day.
Before interviewing for the jobs, I remember asking God to close and open the appropriate doors. But I really didn’t want the Conference job. Financially, it would be better for us to go with the higher paying job in St. Paul, but they suddenly went quiet. I stopped hearing from them. Everything was on hold. So, when I was offered the job at the Conference, I was angry with God. I remember yelling at Him in my car on the way home, asking Him why He wanted me to work in such a small office, at such small pay, when I had so much more I could make and do with my talents and education.
Despite my anger, I knew what I was supposed to do. Through it all, we had continued tithing, and as a result, my faith and trust in God had deepened. I officially started working at the Conference in December 2015.
The 40-day tithe challenge ended that fall, but our tithing did not. Despite the upheaval in our lives, I felt so at peace. I kept my job at Michael’s, and I worked full time at the Conference until June 2016. Our financial situation was challenging, and I remember during a particularly difficult month, I got a letter from my previous apartment building with a check returning a missing portion of my deposit. I had moved out of that apartment more than two years previously. The surprise influx of cash allowed us to pay a bill we otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford.
God eventually opened the door for us to buy our first home. The interest rates were low, the houses were relatively cheap, and our mortgage payment would be less than rent. We were thrilled. God’s blessings continued to abundantly flow over us.
I was no longer working at Michael’s and, only weeks after moving into our house, our basement flooded with a huge influx of rain. I grabbed fans and took photos and did all I could to dry it out. We found out our insurance wouldn’t cover the costs because, unbeknownst to us, the sump pump was disconnected before we ever moved in. Amazingly enough, everything except the carpet was salvageable, including the drywall and all the boxes of stuff we hadn’t yet unpacked.
Then, only a month later, God’s blessings overflowed again. I was offered a significant promotion. I was asked to create the first ever human resources department for the Conference, and I was humbled and overwhelmed by the opportunity. Not to mention scared!
Tithing isn’t just a “do it because God tells you to” thing. Tithing is about expressing both gratitude and trust in God. Giving 10% of your income to God is hard. That’s a significant amount of money, especially when you’re living paycheck to paycheck. That 10% can be used for groceries or gas or student loans or utilities. But God! God tells us to return our tithe to Him because, honestly, everything we have belongs to Him anyway. Nothing we have is possible without God having fist given it to us. And what’s even more amazing is that, when we return our faithful 10%, God promises to pour out on us above and beyond what He’s already given us, beyond what we can possibly imagine. One of my favorite verses, in Luke 6:38 (NIV) says, Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap … .
Whenever I read this verse, I imagine my daughter filling her sand bucket. She pours in the sand, then pushes on it. Sometimes she adds water. She shakes the sand down. She stands on it. She packs it in there as tightly as possible. She keeps adding and adding and adding, until it seems nothing else should be able to fit in there anymore. And then, she keeps adding. I tell her to stop, that the sand is going to overflow. But she tells me, with a huge smile on her face, that she’s filling it up so that when she tips it over, it won’t matter if some of the sand pours out, because the beautiful tower will be strong enough to stand firm.
Tithe is one of the many ways that God teaches us to depend on Him. When we fail to tithe, we are robbing ourselves and God of the opportunity for a deep, intimate relationship with God. I’m grateful for the 40-day tithe challenge, all those years ago. I have seen God’s blessings overflow again and again and again. And I pray that as God continues to fill me up with His blessings, those blessings will overflow to people around me. I pray that as I do the things God has called me to, I will be a beautiful tower, strong enough in God’s promises to stand firm, no matter the challenges around me.
Savannah B. Carlson is communication director of Minnesota Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Email her at: [email protected]