Reminded by a Calendar

 About eight years after I began to tithe, the Lord demonstrated, dramatically, how literally He fulfills His Word. Malachi 3:10, 11 proclaims to faithful tithers God’s promise to pour from heaven’s windows blessings beyond one’s capacity to receive them. Here’s how it happened in one of our family’s most memorable encounters with God many years ago. I had gone into town for our US$80 monthly allotment of food stamps, but before returning home, I stopped at the library to look at magazines.

While hanging my coat and purse on a coat rack, an inner voice alerted me to think twice about what I was doing, but I ignored it and settled into a booth, quickly engrossing myself in the magazines. Later, when retrieving my coat and purse, I had a vague sensation that something wasn’t right, but I grabbed them and hurried home.

I then discovered what was wrong: I had been robbed! Our entire month’s food allowance was gone. I had three people to feed and four weeks until more food stamps. A battle raged within—anger toward the robber and a struggle in realizing that, as a Christian, I must forgive. My husband reminded me of the Malachi promise, assuring me that God would provide for us. We agreed to tell no one what had happened. Then God began to work. Three days after the incident, a woman handed me four dollars for some typing I had done as a favor. Four days later, a five-dollar bill was pressed into my hand just because the woman wanted me to have it. I thanked her, saying the Lord must have led her to do it, but was true to the agreement of not mentioning our loss.

Over the rest of the month, at about three-to-four-day intervals, the miracle continued to happen —small amounts of money given to us randomly.

The end of the month had arrived with the tally: $80 stolen; $81.50 in blessings poured out of heaven’s windows! We still have the 1981 calendar where God’s blessings were recorded on each day they arrived in February of that year.

God supplied all our needs (and more!) according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19, my paraphrase).

Christine B. Nelson