Ask Me To Prove It

Malachi 3:10 -- "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."

Most people can name at least one sound that grates on the nerves with an almost physical pain. While the irritation might not come from actual physical contact, the goose-bumps, clenching of teeth, and the twitching of the eye muscles sure do paint a picture of a human in agony. Observing an individual in the throws of this reaction to raw and abused nerves sometimes makes us laugh. Other times, we sympathize - all depending on the noise/trigger that set the body in an automatic and reflexive motion.

Lately, my noise/trigger is the telephone. Even changing the ring tone to an almost chiming melody doesn't prevent the shoulders from shrugging upward and my hands coming up over my ears. The issue isn't exactly the sound - so much as it is WHO might be calling. ...We've had a pretty rough month of things from a medical and emergency stand point. Countless doctors visits, three trips to the lab for blood work, a MAJOR case of Strep and a blown tire on the car have all reeked havoc on our bank account balance. So when the phone rings - I just KNOW it's someone in or somehow affiliated with the medical field. I have come to feel that my full-time job is Family Medical Secretary - doing all that I can to mediate communication between our medical providers and our medical insurance company.  Let's just say -- things have been interesting. [and I feel badly telling this story because I can name two of my friends with similar circumstances - only their situations are far, far more intense than my own].

It's during these times that my husband and I have learned to be very creative with our budget. However - even our creativity has it's limits. And I KNOW I'm not the only person feeling the strain as our country's economy works it's way through some pretty excruciating growing pains. [at least, the optimist in me has decided that we, as a Nation, ARE simply struggling through some growing pains]. 

This being the case in our house-hold - I almost did that involuntary cringe thing again when I came to the topic of today's personal Devo. 

You guessed it - tithing. My eyes slam shut completing the grimace on my face even typing out that word. I have failed in this department on so many occasions that the topic is an uncomfortable one. And - as I mentioned before - I am not alone.  The topic of tithing brings a somewhat shameful/embarrassed look to the faces of many people. 

Today - while stubbornly clinging to my numerous excuses for NOT tithing at the moment - I was pointed to this verse in Malachi. This ONE verse that I have somehow missed my entire life. This ONE verse that actually DARES us to test God. [I know - who knew, right?]

Bring your entire tithe - and just you see if I don't make your life better for it. You bring me your tithe - and lets just see if your medical bills are manageable, if there is food on the table, and a roof over your head. You bring me your tithe - I DARE you to bring me your tithe - and watch the bounty I bestow upon on you. 

Pretty strong medicine, if you ask me. I grew up learning all about how we soooooooo do NOT have the right to test God. [and this IS still true]. But here, in Malachi - God actually tells us, "test me in this". This is the only verse I have found in which God asks us to say .... "prove it". Go ahead - ask Me to prove it.

And here's the kicker. Not only is that one verse a total inspiration to commit to tithing - which, admittedly seems so very scary right now - but in the passage that precedes this verse, God tells us that: "You are under a curse - your WHOLE nation - because you are robbing me".

It comes to this: Does God need our meager dollars? No. He really doesn't. But He asks for our hearts. He asks for obedience. What greater expression of our love and devotion and obedience could there be than to completely trust Him with a thing that, here on earth, amounts to security? If the very FIRST thing I do with my income is honor God - I have very surely shown Him that I am completely His. I have put feet to my faith and proclaimed that God is, indeed, God of my ENTIRE life. Not just the parts that I feel comfortable giving Him - but EVERY part of my life.

Food for thought, no? It is NOT going to come easily, I think - so I'll have to pin this verse to my wallet. I'm going to claim it as my own and obey with ALL of what I have.