God Wouldn’t Let That Happen to Me, Would He?

I was sure that God wouldn’t let it happen to me. But I learned that I was missing a very important point.

I had just had my nine-year anniversary with the company I was working for. My life was going along pretty well.

A year and a half before I had bought my first place of my own—a condo. So far things were going fine. Nothing had really broken or fallen apart completely, and I thought things were under control!

I was on my own, responsible for paying my bills, taking care of myself and whatever else might come along. I knew that people lost jobs to layoffs, downsizing, whatever you wanted to call it, but I never thought God would allow that to happen to me. After all, I was alone, and God promises to take care of us. Surely God wouldn’t let that happen to me. …

One day it all changed

Then, one morning in January I was at work, and my phone rang. It was my manager’s manager asking me if I would please come to his office. Of course I said I would be right there. I was so nervous, I couldn’t remember where his office was and went to the wrong floor.

When I finally arrived at his office, the door was shut. I peered through the thin horizontal window in the door, and saw the HR representative in the room. I thought to myself—this can’t be good.

I took a deep breath, knocked on the door and was invited to enter. The painful news was delivered slowly and deliberately. Several times, he stopped to ask if I had any questions. Numb from the reality that was only beginning to sink in, I just kept asking, “Is that in writing in the packet?” Each time, he said “yes.”

I left the office, not really knowing where to go next, wandering around in what felt like complete darkness.

I soon realized, God had let it happen to me. What would I do now?

The next morning I got up at the same time I usually did and went to the health club to exercise. I figured if I didn’t change my routine, I wouldn’t have to tell anyone that I had lost my job. In the next days, many things became clear to me. God had let it happen to me, and He would take care of me. The lesson, though, came much later, and through some interesting steps.

Analyzing the situation

Upon discussing my frustration with my pastor, he said to me, “You do a pretty good job of taking care of yourself, don’t you?”

Just a bit smug, I said, “Yes, I do.”

He said, “Did you ever consider that God wants you to know that you need Him to take care of you?”

I thought about that briefly but needed to take that thought up again later when I was alone and had time to consider it.

The biblical command of tithing

A few days later, my severance pay came. I had previously calculated what I would receive and considered that it would pay my mortgage and expenses for a certain period of time.

When I received the check, I anxiously opened the envelope and, to my horror, discovered that a large percentage was taken out in taxes! Due to the money being paid out in one lump sum, the tax burden was huge.

In dismay, I plopped down on the couch and thought that by the time I tithed on this, it would be really tight.

What would I do? Tithes weren’t optional, were they? I had learned about the importance of this law of God from the time I was just a few years old. I had done it all my life! Now the big question in my mind—I knew it was right, I knew I had to do it, but why was I so scared?

I knew I had to do something about this, and soon. I spent time in prayer and fasting. I got on my knees and told God in a more heartfelt prayer than I had ever prayed before, “I know I need to tithe, but I’m scared. I know You say You will provide, and You promise You will see us through every problem we have, but I need You to prove it to me. I need You to show me those blessings You promise in the Bible.”

God keeps His promises

I got up off my knees, wrote the check for my tithe and put it into the mail. God had let it happen to me, but He helped me prove the promises He gives us of blessings for obedience to one of His fundamental commands of tithing.

I know God could have let me wait longer and tested my faith further—many people in the Bible went through far greater trials and proved their loyalty to Him. But by the end of that week, I had an offer for a job, which I accepted, and now, five years later, I am still there!

Barbara Lee attends the Twin Cities, Minnesota, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, and works as an IT business analyst in the financial services industry. She is a musician and an exercise enthusiast in her free time.

For more about God’s promises and tithing, see:

• What Is Tithing?
• The Struggle Is Essential
• Is Anything Too Hard for God?