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Written by Eddie Johnson
When I was first learning about God and His way of life, it took me a long time to fully commit to Him. In the process He got my attention with two experiences that helped build my faith.
Why did it take me almost six years before I actually attended church? I knew what I should be doing, but somehow I “never got around to it.” When we are somewhat slow in responding to God’s calling, I have found that He has ways to catch our attention—and there were two events that did this for me.
One had to do with tithing and the other, answered prayer. Both had a great effect on my ability to grow in faith in God, and both were connected to our moving to our second home.
Blessings for giving God His tenth
When we first started tithing on our income, it seemed logical that giving to God would make our finances very tight. But, although we had to still watch our pennies, we managed to buy a larger house during this time. The house was a lot more modern, bigger and better for a growing family and our beagle dog Snoopy. We never thought it would be possible at that time.
Within weeks of moving, the same kind of house on our street was being sold for almost 50 percent more than our purchase price.
Also, within a year I had a job that paid almost 50 percent more, and it was nearer home. We were pleased and believed that all these blessings were given to us due to tithing or giving God His 10 percent in the first place (Malachi 3:10).
Praying and finding proof in the stones
By the time we moved to the new house, I had been reading the Church’s publications for over four years, and they were making a profound impression on me. This was not just due to the tithing issue. The Bible’s teachings about the Sabbath, God’s festivals, man’s origins, man’s potential, the divinely made universe, etc., were all falling into place and were having a profound effect on my thoughts.
Whether I was standing at a bus stop going to and from work or taking our dog Snoopy for a walk, I would be praying to God to teach me more and more.
One rather wet and windy day soon after the move, I was taking Snoopy for a walk across some very stony ground. I had read in the Bible that the earth had been covered by water. I asked God to show me evidence of this.
Perhaps I was being like Gideon in asking for a miracle for reassurance (Judges 6:36-40). By then I don’t think I actually needed proof of God’s power, as I was fully convinced of God’s plan for man and convinced of the existence of His Church. Nevertheless I said to God that if this high ground was once covered with water, there would be proof of it in these stones all around me. Then I bent down and began to turn over and look at the stones, with Snoopy sniffing and showing interest in what I was doing.
Miraculous answer
To be praying for something and within seconds to see the miraculous result of that prayer was overwhelming. Within a very few minutes I had picked up seven or eight ammonite fossils. (Ammonites are extinct marine mollusks.)
I brought the fossils home, and my wife, Sandra, and at least our two oldest children can very well remember them. For some time they were on display in our home.
Why do I use the word miraculous? If I had spent an hour on that day and picked up the same number of fossils per minute, I would have found more than a hundred. What proved to be truly miraculous is that I repeatedly went back to that field, just across the road from us, looking for more, but have never found a single fossil since that day. The miracle is that they were there for me to find in large quantities for a very brief time.
That field is just about six or seven miles from where we now live in our fourth home, and it is now covered with many houses. I make a point of driving by there sometimes, and I think of that rainy day when I looked for and actually found fossils in answer to my prayer to the all-knowing, all-seeing and all-giving God.
Eddie and Sandra Johnson serve the membership in the Tonbridge, England, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association. He has been an ordained elder nearly five years.
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