The Law of Reciprocity

When Money is Tight

By Mia Evans-Saracual
The 700 Club

CBN.com — In 1991, Scott Owens came up with a groundbreaking idea. "We really wanted to take the whole defensive driving industry to the next level—actually make it entertaining, engaging."

So he and a partner launched the first at-home traffic school in the state of Texas. But getting the business off the ground took a long time and a lot of money.

"A partner and I took our investment capital, all of the money that we had (and) invested it in this," Scott remembers.

With all of their money in the start-up, things were tight.

"During this time it was definitely a struggle due to the fact that we had no income coming in," he says. "We weren't taking salaries. It made it very difficult to pay the bills to the point where the electricity got cut off. We didn't eat very well. We ate rice and tuna fish and pecans that we had on a pecan tree in the back yard. It was a difficult struggle, but we got through it."

They struggled for three long years. Scott believes it was then that God told him to give to a local church.

"I had about $400 or $500 in a coffee can," he explains. "I had my heart set on a watch, but I went home, I thought about it, struggled with it for a little while, and then took it down to the church."

Finally, things turned around.

"From 1996, the company grew exponentially, Scott explains. "It did extremely well, and I can attribute that probably back to $400 or $500 in a coffee can that I took to the church."

In 2007, Scott married Nina. She convinced him to start tithing ten percent, and he did. The company continued to prosper. Eventually, Scott and his partner decided to sell the company. But Scott had a fallout with the shareholders, and his salary was cut in half. Now, giving that ten percent off the top was tough for Scott.

He says, "I looked at the tithe and I was like 'That's a substantial amount of money that we give every month. That's about the amount of money that we're short. What do we do?'"

Nina recalls, "I would have him saying 'Well maybe this is how much we should tithe, we should just stop for a while.' I would say 'No, that's the last thing we need to do because if we're just staying strong, staying faithful, just doing what we're doing you know every time God will see you through better than you could ask or think."

Scott and Nina agreed to keep tithing on the amount of Scott's previous salary – before the paycut.

"We held true to it, we stuck to it and surprisingly enough every month additional income would come in that would cover the remaining portion of the bills," he points out.

For three years the couple tithed faithfully, and trusted God to provide. Then finally, they closed the deal, and Scott made more than 70 times his initial investment!

"I was surprised, I was shocked. I was in awe," Scott says, still amazed. "It's absolutely amazing the blessing that God has given me and my family."

Scott believes it was their faithful giving that made all the difference.

"Just try it," Scott says with a smile. "Do it faithfully. I guarantee you will see God's blessing."

Being obedient to God's truth made an incredible difference for Scott. Join him in partnering with CBN. You will make a difference in lives around the world, through medical missions, food and clothing programs, humanitarian outreaches and so much—all in the name of Jesus. Please join today.

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