Proove me now herewith..

I was driving to work the other day and heard a man talking on the radio about tithing. I am not sure what station it was, and I didn't listen long enough to even find out who was talking, but I've been thinking about some of the things he said. He quoted Malachi 3:10, one of my favorite scriptures,

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine 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.
11 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 field, saith the Lord of hosts."

Then he went on to talk about how tithing is something that we give weekly, that we get nothing in return for, we have no control over where it goes, and yet the blessings of paying it can solve our financial problems.
In our travels abroad over the years, it has become very apparent that those who are faithful church members, who regularly pay tithing are those at church that always seem to get by or do well financially--even when the economy and other factors seem stacked against them. At my mother-in-law's home, it has been shocking to see the difference when the "devourer was rebuked" because she was paying tithing, and when it wasn't. One time we returned after having been gone just a few weeks, to find nearly all the dishes, silverware, furniture, etc that had just been purchased on our previous visit needed replaced. On the other hand, two years later, when we returned, almost everything was intact and in good condition after the years she had been paying her tithing. In our home, we have seen food store longer, cars and appliances continue to run long past their "life expectancy," major repairs fixed with minor costs, we've been blessed to have our money stretched longer, our garden produce more, and the weather effects tempered.
I have often told about a time in college when I was running out of money, I wrote out my tithing check which left $0.83 in my checking account. On my way to clean a house (my only source of income at the time), I stopped by my bishop's office and slid the check under the door. When I got to the house I was cleaning, I was offered another house to clean-which would double my income. Then when I got home, the phone was ringing as I opened the door. I answered and the voice on the other end introduced herself to me as my counselor (who I had met only once) She offered me a job as a T.A. for a class that I was currently enrolled in. I explained that there must be some mistake, but she said that she had reviewed my grades, and felt like if I kept ahead of the class, I would be able to do it. (Later I chose that same subject as my major). As I was thinking on the subject, I believe that many of my other blessings are probably tied to the law of tithing. For instance, my earlier posting about blessings pouring in, I remember last winter at one point, feeling that there wasn't room enough to receive the blessings--many of those blessings were probably blessings from paying our tithing.
So here is one even more recent--A few months ago I lost my scriptures. I kept thinking they would turn up somewhere around the house, but they didn't. I checked the lost and found at the church, but not there. So last week after posting about getting Ionut scriptures last year, I thought that this year, I ought to order me a replacement. I got online to order, but just couldn't get myself to pay that much and thought I'll try the D.I. again. Friday I spent some time paying bills, and stressing--of course, but Saturday I made it a priority to make sure that I prioritized my tithing check. That evening at our trunk-or-treat, our old Relief Society president came up to me and asked if I ever found my scriptures. "No," I replied, and then remembered that when I checked the lost-and-found I started talking to the librarian about it. She was there checking out something, and empathized with me--months ago. She asked me if I had been going without all this time, and I said that I had been using the paperback type. She then told me that she had bought a set for a family member and had it engraved, but later found out that they had a set. She said she would like to give it to me. I was surprised, touched, in awe, and didn't know what to say. But, Sunday just after I turned in my tithing check, she came over to me with a brand new set of scriptures still in the original bag. I was humbled and grateful, and He was "proven" once again!