24 August | Youth
«“Try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing hat there will not be room enough to receive it.”» Malachi 3:10
Have you ever imagined walking along a beach and suddenly money starts raining down on you? This unusual scene happened in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, some time ago. A 56-year-old Portuguese tourist opened the window of his hotel room and threw 50 and 100 reais bills, totaling approximately 14,000 reais! The unexpected rain caused an uproar among tourists and residents of the region. Even the police were called to contain the excitement. The next day, many waited for a new “weather forecast” under the Portuguese man’s window but discovered that everything had been nothing more than a moment of euphoria.
Several times in the Bible we find God opening “the floodgates of heaven.” The reason was not always joy. In Genesis 7:11 and 12, for example, the context is one of judgment: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” God poured heavy rain on the Earth as answer to human beings’ disobedience (Gen 6:5-7). Every living being died in the flood, except Noah, his family and the animals that entered the ark.
In Malachi 3:10, however, we find a quite different context. God states that he would open “the floodgates of Heaven” to those who were faithful in giving tithes and offerings. It is as if there were a flood of blessings reserved for families who entered the “ark” of obedience. Ellen White comments: “The Lord made a special covenant with men, that if they would regularly set apart the portion designated for the advancement of Christ's kingdom, the Lord would bless them abundantly, so that there would not be room to receive His gifts” (Counsels on Stewardship, p. 77).
Have you been faithful in returning tithes and giving offerings? God has promised blessings beyond measure to those who put Him first. “For those who honor Me I will honor” (1 Sam 2:30), said the Lord. Of course, this blessing does not mean a shower of money, but there is peace, love and true happiness under the windows of Heaven.