Is Your Barn Overflowing?

"Honor the Lord with your wealth, 

with the first fruits of all your crops;

then your barns will be filled to overflowing,

and your vats will brim over with new wine."

Proverbs 3:9-10

I was driving to Claremore to teach my Beginning Computers class when my low fuel light chimed on. I hit the 'reset' button and '50 miles' until empty appeared on the tiny black screen in the corner. The Oklahoma highway was stretched before me and I began thinking about having to fill up the gas tank. More importantly, I began thinking about our finances.

This summer has been a busy one for us. I went to Colorado twice. We spent our Anniversary trip in Branson. Kelly ended up in Urgent Care. He also got two new pairs of glasses. We adopted Zailey, caught Niko up on his shots, bought heart-worm preventative medicine for both dogs, and started on all-out war on the fleas (which only seem to appear in the summer time). Oh, and the dog food bill doubled. My human instincts took over. "We need to figure out a way to save more money. We need to cut back somewhere...but where?"

It's thoughts like these that truly show my humanity. Because the next thought that popped into my mind was not one that I'm proud to admit. When I think about cutting back on our outgoing dollars, I immediately think to myself, "Well, if only we didn't have to tithe..."

Yes, we tithe our 10%  and give to Missions. We also love donating supplies to the church. And do you want to know something? God has been faithful to us. We have always paid our bills, always had food in our cupboards, and have some money leftover to enjoy the simple things in life. Some months our dollars have to stretch a little further, but we always have exactly what we need. Sadly, my husband married a woman loves to budget and watch the bank account grow--not deplete. It bothers me that I am so human.

As I was driving along, God brought Proverbs 3:9-10 to mind. "Honor the Lord with your wealth and your barns will be filled to overflowing." I wanted to cry. How often I doubt his faithfulness! If I truly believe in God and His Word, why do I question whether or not He will fulfill His promise? Past experience has proven to me that I have nothing to worry about. But I worry anyway. Thankfully, God loves to remind me that He will always provide.

And you know what happened? Food arrived in the droves that week. Fresh produce. Bread. Pastries. My kitchen was literally overflowing! I just had to take a moment to thank God. He never fails me. He always provides. And in the moments when I do not deserve His grace, He offers it to me anyway. I always like to remind myself that sometimes all I really need is to let God be God.

Are your barns overflowing? Or have you forgotten that God has made you a promise to overfill your barns when you honor Him with your wealth?