Money Back Guarantee?

The other day my daughter was asked to "doggysit" for a neighbor.  She earned $15. 

In our home we have a practice of what the kids do with any money that they receive.  First, they tithe to our church.  Then they put half into savings and the other half into spending.  (Hint:  If you have younger children, after the tithe you can put it all into savings--they'll never know :-)

Lately, Morgan has been putting all of her money into savings after the tithe.  Her reasoning is that she wants to save all she can for college.  I am very proud that she has made this decision on her own at only 11 years of age.

However, the day that she earned the dogsitting money, I saw her putting it all into an envelope.  "What are you doing, Morgan?" I asked her.

"Making out my tithe," she responded.

"You're putting all of your money in?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I want to," she answered.

Now you would think that as proud as I was of her putting money into savings for college I would be even more proud of her wanting to sacrifice it all to give to God.  Nope.  Instead I started thinking "Is she just being lazy?"  After all it takes time and effort to figure out the tithe, make the appropriate change, record the money in her allowance ledger, etc.  Maybe she just doesn't want to go through all of those steps.

After kicking things around in my head, I finally gave up and kicked myself.  I realized why I was not at ease with her giving all of her money.  Because I didn't trust God to provide.  You see in my  mind, when Morgan puts money into savings for college, there is a guarantee that she has so many dollars towards her education.  When she gives the money to God, there is no guarantee that she will ever see those dollars again. 

Or is there?

Matthew 6:19-21 says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I had it all backwards.  By putting her trust in God, Morgan is storing up treasures in heaven where there is a guarantee that she will see those treasures.  The money that I am trusting in could be spent, stolen, or lost.  The treasure that she has stored up will last forever.