Multiplication

No, this isn't about a math lesson.  And no, we aren't expecting a new baby (even if anyone was hoping for a New Orleans Surprise.) 

Last weekend we were facing a financial crisis.  We were going to "make it," but it was going to be rough.  What can you do but pray, and ask your friends and loved ones to pray with you? 

On Sunday morning, I was going to tithe on the $8 or $9 I had in my wallet--all I had for what could be more than a week.  I had three ones in my hand, waiting for the offering plate.  God said, "Put in the five dollar bill."  I replied that $3 of $8 was more than a tithe, and I may need that $5.  "Put in the five."  It went back and forth until I was literally squirming in my seat! If you start squirming in your seat, you'd better just obey!!  The three ones went back in my purse, and the five went in the offering plate, with a prayer for multiplication.  

At the end of service, I sold some eggs and the five was replaced.  Wow, God, that was fast.  That was the beginning.  The situation we feared was resolved on Tuesday, only a day later than "should have been."  In the following days, Bill picked up enough extra work to multiply that $5 eighty times!  Then, someone who couldn't afford it, sent us $20.  That five was replaced and multiplied over eighty-four times!

Would everything have worked out if I had just put in the three dollars instead of the five?  I don't know.  I do know that just as I reward my children for their obedience, God rewards His children for their obedience.  This is a lesson He's been showing me over and over in the last year.  Little by little I'm learning to obey faster and faster.