I was once in a Sunday School meeting where we were discussing paying tithing. The meeting had been opened up for discussion when an older lady raised her hand and declared, “I can not afford not to pay my tithing.” These words struck me. I had never thought about it in those terms, but I felt the same way. Even though I haven't always been a full tithe payer, I found the time that I did pay tithing to be much more financially sound than when I did not. I have never found this more true than when I have had to move. Paying tithing has helped me to not only have the funds needed in my moving, but has seen opportunities open up before me.
Several years ago, I found myself at a crossroads in my life. I had just left a verbally abusive husband. During that time, I hadn't always followed my religion as closely as I could. One of the first things I decided to do on my own was to change that. This included paying a full tithe. I didn't have much income at the time (I was receiving social security disability payments), but I decided that I needed to pay a full tithing on it anyway. I also paid tithing on a small student loan I had taken out. I saw the blessings of this almost immediately.
Not wanting to confront my husband when I left, I let him have our apartment along with most everything in it. After which, I found myself living in a women's shelter. At first I was afraid that I would never be able to find another place to live that was in my budget, but I held on to my faith that Heavenly Father would help me. Within a few weeks, I was approached by a mother and her adult daughter that also lived in the shelter. They wanted to know if I would rent a house with them. After finding the space I would be living in was well within my price range, I agreed. Now I was only left with the matter of furnishing it. I decided to use some of my student loan to buy furnishings. To my relief, I was able to find everything that I needed at a local thrift store and still had money left over. It seemed that paying tithing had worked out for me after all.
Sometime later, I was put in a position where I would have to move again. The situation with the mother and daughter had not worked out, and I had moved into an apartment off the side of a family's home. After living there for a couple of years, the father of the family wanted to use the space for an office. He presented me with a “no-fault” eviction notice. I had no job at the time and knew I would need one to be able to afford rent somewhere else. As best I could I put together a resume and started to look for work. Days dragged on and I was unable to find a job or another apartment. I was starting to wonder if I would find anything. But my faith was in my Father in Heaven. Finally, towards the end of the month I found a job where I was hired on the spot. A few days later, an apartment opened up. With my new job, I just made the three times the rent that I would need to move in.
Several years later, I would find myself in a different apartment. It was near a noisy intersection, a loud athletic field, and a busy high school. I had recently had new neighbors move in who liked to play loud music and had a dog that yowled all night. On top of that, the company I was renting from was raising my rent yet again. In the past I didn't mind living in such a noisy area. I figured it was worth it for such reasonable rent. But now it had reached a point where it was on par with other rentals in town. If I was going to pay that much in rent anyway, I was going to look for something quieter.
I hadn't been in my search long when I found something interesting. There was a house for rent that was in the same neighborhood that my son lived in. The rent was just a little higher than I was paying for my apartment. Even better, water, sewer, and trash were included in the rent. I immediately called and set up an appointment to look at the property.
When I went to look at the house, it was a bit run down, but that didn't bother me. I had lived in worse conditions with far less privacy and quiet than a house would afford. The house was being shown to multiple people at once and I kept waiting for others to show up. No one did. The only other people who showed up were a group of college girls who didn't look remotely interested. After they left, the manager told me that as long as I could pay the rent and deposit, the house was essentially mine.
And the miracles did not end there. The rent has not gone up on my home, despite the cost of rent increasing everywhere else in my area. This has been a great blessing to me, allowing me to go through job changes and other financial issues with less worry.
I truly believe that paying tithing has helped me when I was in need of a place to rent. Though problems arrived, I always found myself with a roof over my head one way or another. Sometimes things worked out better than I anticipated. I am glad that I discovered the benefits of always paying my ten percent to the Lord.
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