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By Kiri Christina Hyatt
There was a time in my life that I was very ill. It would take 22 months of red tape and paperwork before the government would decide I truly was disabled. Though I may have been too ill to work during those months of waiting, I was still not eligible for any government assistance except for food stamps. That was clearly a very difficult time in my life. Whenever I took my eyes off the Lord and focused instead on my situation, hopelessness stared me straight in the face.
God has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5b) and in my life He has kept that promise. He put it on the heart of a woman at my former church in another state to began sending me $40 a month. Every month faithfully a check would arrive. I knew she didn't have much money so those checks were truly a sacrifice.
Most Sundays I managed to drag myself out of bed to go to church. Since coming to know the Lord, going to church has been very important to me. Though I often was too ill to clean house or do much else, I tried hard to get to church. It was during those months when even a box of Kleenex was an extravagance I couldn't afford, I learned a valuable lesson about God's economy.
It is easy to read in the Bible that we shouldn't worry about our need for food and clothes (Matthew 6:25-34) , that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills--meaning he owns everything (Psalm 50:10) , or that he wants our tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8-9) ; but when you have only a few food stamps and $40 a month to live on, believing those verses and putting them into practice is much harder.
At first I often passed the offering plate on without ever putting in a penny. Though I tried not to worry about my financial situation, it was tough when I often didn't have money for toilet paper. But it didn't take long for God to teach me a valuable lesson. If I just put $1 a month in the offering place, God took care of me.
First, I noticed my anxiety disappeared. My outward situation had not changed, but I was at peace. I no longer worried about tomorrow. Then I noticed I was somehow making it month to month. It was still very rough, but I was surviving. Then God began raising a few people to help me. A total stranger began occasionally sending me checks often totaling over $100. A Christian ministry sent me several checks also. Though I still averaged less than $100 a month to live on, I felt rich compared to my former situation.
Even with all this extra money coming in, the biggest blessing God gave me for my obedience was His peace. God's peace for $1 a month, I have to say I got a bargain.
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