Ten Percent

A little over three years ago, I visited with an older couple at church who prayed over some major issues I’d been struggling with.  They were encouraging and kind, but I didn’t see any immediate impact from their prayers.  In fact, I didn’t see an impact at all.  One of the things they prayed was that God would provide other believers – men of God with a passion for their families – to mentor and encourage my husband at work.  I’ve echoed that prayer for years now, and…nothing. 

Another battle that has marked our entire marriage is our feeling about tithing.  Call it guilt or good training, but I’ve almost always tried to hold to the ten percent tithe.  Last winter, facing some extended time of work, I made the executive decision to bump up our monthly giving to almost the full ten percent.   Well, we didn’t exactly get a windfall, and when James found out in May how much we were giving, he was furious.  I was so distraught, I couldn’t remember how to log in to modify the gift, but in that moment, when I typed in the new numbers, God gave me peace.  He told me to honor my husband…that I didn’t have to give ten percent to be right with Him.  So I followed my husband’s directive and also prayed that God would change his heart about giving if we were supposed to give more.

Last night, we attended a leadership night at church, and we were given the chance to commit money to advance the ministry.  James had told me for weeks in advance that he had a number rolling around in his head; last night, he told me he was consistently woken up out of a dead sleep to that number.  I could tell he was wrestling with it; he wanted to include our current monthly giving in that number to make it less daunting.  So for once, I stepped back.  I handed the card to him to fill out, and did not look at it again.  At some point, he decided that God gave him that number and he needed to honor it.  He put the whole thing on the card. 

I can’t begin to tell you how big this is.  James doesn’t like to spend money on anything, and for a decade now I’ve listened to his tirades about churches asking for money.  And yet, the ministry of our church has touched him, and he wants to advance it.  My feelings are bittersweet.  We can afford to give this much, but after a year of struggling financially, I was looking forward to paying off some debt and loosening up.  And my salary is pretty crucial to our ability to afford what we committed, which pretty much means I won’t be staying home with the kids for three years.  If ever.  I can’t even think about that.  But last night while I was not sleeping, God showed me the change in James’ heart and reminded me of my prayer.  He answered it…in his time.  And not only that, He reminded me of those prayers for James to be surrounded by believers at work.  He has a Crossroads guy on his team now, and another working on the same floor.  One of them went to Man Camp with him.  As much as I want him to get the promotion he so deserves – sooner rather than later – he is suddenly surrounded by just the people he needs.  And so, God answered another prayer…in His time. 

Every day, a notification on my phone reminds me to look for God’s greatness and love.  I can’t help but think that I got to see just a glimmer of it today: a flash, a glance of His glory and His provision when I had long ago given up.  I feel surprising lightness...surprising for a person who has just made a major financial commitment in the face of great uncertainty.  I have to believe that comes from God.