In March 2023, money had a much tighter hold on me than I would have realized and in biblical terms I was wrestling with the love of money.
Do I make enough? Can I really afford my house? Will I ever have enough for retirement? I started to question how much I was tithing and how much easier things would be financially if I wasn’t tithing at all, and started to question if I should slow down on my tithe.
I went to sleep one Friday night and the following morning and the second I woke up I had the word Malachi on my lips.
Why Malachi?
At the time, the only verse I knew from Malachi was:
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Malachi 3:10
Is the Lord trying to communicate to me about money? I thought. I brushed it off.
The following night I had another dream.
In the dream I am at a cafeteria table with a famous rich person (who I will not name here, but who shares my initials) and I am trying to convince him to install the YouVersion Bible app onto his phone. He looks and me and says the following:
I don't care much for that Bible stuff.
The dream then changes as if I am watching a movie and the camera zooms out and his picture becomes frozen as if in a portrait, turns to black and white and then a little scroll appears across the bottom with following words written in script
Deuteronomy 16:16
I’ve recreated the image here to the best of my ability, while also maintaining the anonymity of the person in the dream:
The first thing that fascinates this about me is: Deuteronomy 16:16 is not a well known verse. I believe this is one way the Lord demonstrates that He speaks to us to distinguish Himself from all the other people speaking to us, including the own thoughts in our head. He speaks to us in a way that is unique to Himself, in a way that I would not have chosen to be spoken to so I know it is Him.
The second thing that fascinates me is that the Lord did not give me the words to the verse in the dream. He points us to His word! He wants us to read the Bible.
Well what is Deuteronomy 16:16 you ask?
Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
Deuteronomy 16:16
Message received! I continued along with the tithe and I haven’t looked back since.
This dream did a couple of things for me:
- Built my faith
- Came to the knowledge the Lord still speaks in dreams
- Was a huge part of breaking my love of money
My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.
Hebrews 12:6