“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full-pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” Luke 6:38
It was November of 2004 in Minnesota when I received the call no homeowner wants to get. It was from my wife.
“Tom, it’s raining in the house.”
“What does that even mean?” I asked.
“Here’s what it means,” she replied, “I’m in our bedroom watching water drip through the ceiling onto our bed.”
I quickly grasped the problem as fear took hold of my heart. This was not a broken pipe – there were no pipes in our attic – this could only be a leak in our roof. It had been raining for days and apparently enough had leaked into the attic so that it was now coming through the ceiling of our bedroom!
We were a single income family living on a pastor’s salary with one child in college and three other children still at home. There was no extra money, no “rainy day fund,” though this was what we literally needed at the time.
We received a bid for a newly shingled house (that included removing the old shingles) from a roofing guy at our church for $5,800. Patching was not an option and the work had to be done quickly because winter was coming, so I needed to make a choice.
I had a talk with God. I reminded Him that we were His and that everything we had belonged to Him, and therefore it was His roof that was leaking. I reminded Him that I was a faithful tither and beyond, and that He had promised to open up heaven and pour out resources in my time of need. He said He would rebuke the devourer for my sake. (Malachi 3:10-11) I told Him that I was going to accept this bid unless He showed me a different way, and that His reputation was at stake if I couldn’t pay the bill.
In my journal at the time I recorded six different sources of money that came unexpectedly into my hands in the two weeks that followed my prayer. The roof was fixed, the bill was paid, and God’s reputation was intact!
One Thing 