Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (3 Nephi 24:10)
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| ©Darrell Wyatt |
I have had many experiences that have given me a strong testimony of tithing, but none have left quite as big an impression as one that happened about fifteen years ago. My husband and I, along with our then two children, were living in a small duplex. Money was always very tight, but for some reason, at this particular time, it was extra tight. We had paid our bills and our tithing, bought a few groceries, and literally had no money left until the next paycheck. A few days before pay day, we ran out of baby formula for our son who was just a few months old. We were frantic. We had no idea how we were going to get him his milk, and knew that we really had no choice but to find a way. We scavenged all through the house - in drawers, in pockets and in couch cushions - and ended up with $7.42. I knew that the formula was $6.99, and I just prayed all the way to the grocery store that the tax would not make the total come to more than I had. It seemed like such a long walk from the infant section of the store up to the checkout stands. I didn't know what I was going to do if I didn't have enough. Thinking back, I can still feel the anxiousness that I was feeling then. As the clerk rang up the formula and told me the total amount, I gasped. $7.42. I handed her my handfuls of change and went to the car, where I broke into tears. I couldn't contain my gratitude. It was then that I discovered that Heavenly Father will always provide a way for me to have the things that I really need. I may not always get the things that I want, but the things that I need will always somehow be there.
In an April, 1982 General Conference talk, President Hinckley really captured this principle. He said that if we are paying our tithing to get rich, we are doing it for the wrong reasons. "The Lord will open the windows of heaven according to our need, and not according to our greed." I love that!
Some may look at my experience and say that if the Lord was really blessing me, I wouldn't have had to scrounge for $7.42. I disagree wholeheartedly. I was given a blessing that has stayed with me all these years. Had I not had to scrounge for milk money, I would have missed out on a very valuable lesson. And I can tell you that when I went to the car after being able to purchase that baby formula, I knew without a doubt that the windows of heaven had been opened. And there really wasn't room enough for me to receive it. I was completed overwhelmed at the love I felt at that moment. I will never forget it.
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