Facing financial pressure while serving far from home, Safia chooses faithfulness over fear and experiences unexpected provision, learning to trust God’s timing and care.
Safia* reviewed her finances, trying to figure out how she could stretch her worker’s allowance a little farther to make ends meet. She would need to move to another apartment soon and needed to have enough money for a deposit.
Little did Safia know that things were about to get worse. Upon entering her program’s project, someone with more experience had told her she didn’t need to pay tithe as that was taken out prior to her receiving the monthly allowance–so she had not been returning that ten percent of her income to God.
Now, at this time of particular challenge, Safia learned that this was not actually the case, and when she totalled up the tithe from her previous payments, she “owed God” (as she put it) a whole month’s allowance–about the same amount she would need for the upcoming deposit on another apartment.
What to do? Could she give the tithe back on a payment plan? Was it presumptious under the circumstances to just pay the tithe and expect God to provide? Why hadn’t she learned about this problem sooner? Why now, when she most needed that money?
Safia wrestled and prayed. Finally, she decided that she needed and wanted to give the full tithe that she owed back to God, instead of waiting. The decision gave her peace, even as she held the challenge of how she would manage.
God had a surprise for Safia. On the heels of her decision, she received a phone call from the local pastor. “Hello, Safia,” he said, “we will be out of the country for a few months. Could you stay in our home while we are gone?”
And just like that, Safia no longer needed the deposit for a new apartment. Neither did she need the funds for the next several months' rent.
God’s faithfulness is a loving gift to us. Our faithfulness is a grateful gift to him that builds our trust.
*Not her real name