How the Lord Answered

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 19, 1911

How the Lord Answered

An Experience in Tithe-Paying

“PROVE me now herewith, saith the Lord,” speaking of the bringing in of the full tithe. How one family proved the Lord in this matter is told by Brother C. P. Michaels, of Australia, in the Australasian Union Conference Record:—

An elderly lady and her two daughters attended one of our Melbourne churches for several years. They were in harmony with our faith, but had never paid tithes. On visiting that church one Sabbath, I presented the tithing question, and after the service walked part of the way home with them. After a little conversation one of the daughters asked me how they could possibly pay tithes. They were in receipt of a pension, and it was barely enough to support them. How could they live if they paid tithes? I asked them if they thought the tithing principle was right. They said that they fully believed that the Bible taught tithing, but they could not see how they could possibly pay out of their limited income. I drew their attention to the promise of the Lord, and his invitation to prove him in this matter, and asked them if they thought God was able to fulfil his promise. I told them that I could not tell how the Lord could do it, but I believed that what he said he would carry out in some way, and advised them to test the Lord in the matter. To them it seemed impossible that their limited income could be increased by any means. But after a few days I met one of them, and she said that they had made up their minds to pay the tithe, and trust the Lord to help them as he had promised.

On visiting the church about a fortnight later, I could see by their faces that the Lord had blessed them, and after the service they gladly related how marvelously the Lord had worked. Just two days after they had paid the tithe, they received notice from the government that they had been examining the pension list, and had found that they were entitled to an increased amount a week, and that future payments would include this extra amount. For ten years they had been receiving this pension. Why was the mistake not found out before? Why was it found out as soon as the tithe was paid? Usually a discovery of this sort leads to a reduction, not an increase. They were quite convinced that the hand of the Lord was in it, and that he had fulfilled his promise.