Tithing

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This week I learned a lot about the law of tithing. In the past I have not been very good at paying tithing. It is still a struggle for me, especially when the budget is tight. Last week, we got a paycheck that was smaller than expected. We were also unwise and spent foolishly before even checking how much this paycheck had been. This caused a trial of faith. I was scared to pay tithing. Of course the Lord knew of my struggle and there was already a plan in place to help me make the right decision. Part of my study in my Book of Mormon class was about tithing. 

When I sat down to read my scripture Monday, I was being helped with this struggle. 3 Nephi 24: 10-12 says:

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
"And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the fields, saith the Lord of hosts.
"And all nations shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land , saith the Lord of Hosts."

We are promised in by the Savior in these verses that if we pay our tithing we will have many blessings including protection from the "devourer." If we look at the footnote to get a better understanding of this promise, it takes us to Docterine and Covenants 85:3 which says:
"...he may tithe his people, to prepare them against the day of vengeance and burning..."

We are being promised that we will be saved by the Lord if we follow this commandment.  In these verses.
In his talk "The law of Tithing," Elder Daniel L. Johnson said that tithing is the key to the blessings of God. He advised us to pay our tithing first (before paying any other financial obligations) and put our trust in the Lord. By doing this, he promised that the Lord will pour out blessings and that we will draw closer to him.
I am one who gets caught up in thinking sometimes that we can't afford to pay tithing. We have three children to take care of and bills to pay. To this Elder Dallin H. Oaks said in his talk "Tithing," that those who have faith in the law of tithing say, "I can't afford not to pay tithing." This is because we are promised blessings when we follow this commandments, and if we don't follow this law the Lord will withhold physical and spiritual blessings. I don't know about you, but I need all the blessings I can get.
Over the past year, I have been doing my best at paying tithing on our income. I have received blessings from doing this and trials when I forgot or got scared. Last spring, as we paid tithing and my daughter was growing so fast we were struggling to clothe her, the bishop's wife gave us clothes her daughter had just grown out of. It was more than enough clothes for my daughter and she was very excited to have been given such nice clothes. In contrast, in the fall as I was transitioning from paying tithing with a check to paying online, I forgot to pay for a few weeks. At this point, our bank account went negative and our water heater busted. We had to rely on some kind family members to get a new water heater installed and learned we needed to be more disciplined with our spending.
I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn more about tithing in a week where I struggled with paying it. I am glad that I was able to not only learn form the scriptures and the servants of the Lord, I have been able to reflect on my own experiences to learn as well. I am thankful that my loving Heavenly Father provided a way to strengthen me in my weakness.