Wibitz C. Stewart

How I Tested God in Tithing ~

After about five years of marriage, everything seemed routine and normal: go to church, pay our tithes, give our offerings, give gifts to people, send offerings to the televangelists, help others in need, etc. Life was like in cruise control. Everything was normal. We had joy, peace and love. We were able to buy our needs and wants, including romantic dinners almost every night because we didn't cook. There were only tWo of us. Cooking seemed illogical and impractical!

One day, I'm not sure what I had eaten or came into my mind, I decided to try to test God by not paying our tithes, offerings, giving to televangelists, people who have birthdays, needs, etc. Just wanted to check it out. Anyway, if you really look at it, I was still obeying God's Word that says in Malachi 3, "TEST ME IN THIS ....!" I decided to try it out just for three months without telling my husband. I knew his answer already. So, for the first month I did not do any giving. Nothing happened. Everything was normal. Second month, our son with a tail got really sick. We tried to give him purified water to drink, but for some reason, he liked the toilet bowl's water better. That time, the house cleaner put some blue disinfectant in the toilet bowl when our son Mortie drank from it. He stopped eating. We took him to the veterinarian. His doctor told us he was fighting for his life. We needed to give him ANYTHING, as long as he would eat again. Our appliances broke, almost one after another. All of a sudden something was wrong with the cars. Our health! My husband got diverticulitis, a pinched nerve that needed surgery, back pain, etc. We both went to our doctors after we went to our cat's doctor. Instead of the malls, the pharmacy had become our shopping place. I started to get worried. I always wanted to finish what I started and as much as possible fulfill what I said I was going to do. However, it was only the second month and it felt unbearable already. It seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong! My husband was saying, "What's going on? I feel like we are under a curse!"

"We are!" I replied. And he inquired, "How did you know?" I said, "I just knew it! Don't worry. It's gonna end next month!" I assured him. "How did you know that?" I said, "I just knew it!" The situation had become unbearable. So, I repented and told God I now believed it beyond a shadow of a doubt. I would not test Him anymore. There was instant peace all around-just like the morning right after a very strong typhoon. Our cat started eating again. He's now healthy and still a brat like his Mommy Wibitz. My husband received a miracle. We went to a specialist to check him out again.

This time the doctor showed him the X-ray, but could not find anything wrong with him. The pinched nerve on his shoulder that the doctor was going to operate on was also healed. Everything else was perfectly fine again. We seldom see our doctors now. If you still decide to try God after reading this, go ahead! Let me know when you're done! Sometimes when we have everything we need: the sleep at night, the joy in life, God's blessings) protection) etc. we forget how it feels without them. Therefore) we have a tendency to take everything for granted. But try not being able to sleep for two days. Your world is never the same. I learned a very valuable lesson with what I did. God is a good God!

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