Rhonda Bell dreamt of a better financial future. She felt stuck working two jobs with irregular hours.
“And I had to do both jobs even to have just enough. I remember one time when I out of work; I just dug around my house for change ended, and I up finding like, in change, $13.76. I was able to buy groceries; I had no food. I just really wanted a career. I wanted the Lord to bless me with something stable.”
When friends encouraged Rhonda to go into healthcare, she prayed about it. She believed God was leading her into that field, so she enrolled in a drawing blood for the testing program. When she failed the first exams, she feared her career dream was over. She called the CBN prayer center for support.
“She asked God to give me a technique. She was so detailed, and hen at the end of the prayer, she said, ‘I’m a retired nurse.’ God gave me the right person at the right time um in the situation I was in.”
After that call, Rhonda graduated at the top of her class.
“When I graduated, my teacher said I was the only one in the classroom with a technique that takes 20 years to get.”
But financial security didn’t come with the new career in the way she’d imagined. Driving to and from her clients cut into nearly 25% of her monthly earnings.
“And, I realized I was making minimum wage, and so I questioned myself, ‘was this the right move? Did I actually hear from God?’”
For over a year, Rhonda worked seven days a week and earned just enough to cover her rent and food.
“I was buying off-brand food, cheap food, making spaghetti, because that would last a couple of days. Beans and rice that will stretch out.”
Everything else went on a credit card.
“And then my utilities, I was just putting band-aids on them. I wasn’t paying them off, and then my credit cards were run to the max, and so I was in deep debt. I’m working, and this is the career that’s supposed to take me out the hole, but it’s like, I was just deeper in it, and I was like, ‘God, please help me.’ I felt like I was drowning.”
Again, Rhonda turned to CBN for encouragement.
“That CBN family app was my that was my app. I was able to see different testimonies, real stories. These weren’t made up. These were real families, single people, just like me, single parents. And they were able to say, hey, I tithe, and God turned my life around. I start watching Gordon and talk about reciprocity.”
Gordon Robertson on TV: “Here’s a promise you can bank on, it’s from Malachi chapter 3: “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test me know in this, says the lord of hosts.”
Rhonda says it was then that she made the most critical decision in her life concerning money. “And I realized that I couldn’t tip God. Like I’ve been tipping him. I do it whenever I feel like it. ‘Oh, I’ll give you $5 when I feel like it. Or I go to church and put $2 in there.’ That’s not being obedient. Once I started tithing, my life changed dramatically.”
Soon Rhonda was hired by a competitor that doubled her hourly rate, working five days a week instead of seven, and they covered her travel costs. Shortly after that, her pay increased again when she was promoted and put in charge of other technicians.
“He gave me favor, and I just praise God for it. So, my income increased by about 60% after giving to the Lord, but God opened that up because of my obedience.”
Rhonda turned into a “joyful giver” by tithing, paying off all her credit cards, establishing a savings and monthly budget plan, and giving to CBN.
“And I have money left over, and I can treat myself to nails. I’m able to be a blessing, not only to myself and my community but also just giving to CBN. They’re out there; they’re in the storms, They’re in when it’s a natural disaster. You’re helping God’s people, and when you give the CBN, you’re there with them.”
Even when Rhonda’s health care services were curtailed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, her income remained consistent.
“God supernaturally implemented a job in a job where I can go and do one-on-one temperature checks for the people that work at the airline, and it’s all because I gave it to God. I’m just very, very thankful. Had I not tithed; I would be at rock bottom. I don’t know where I would be had I not tithed. My tithing is the reason I’m standing here today at peace with my career, at peace with my life. When you give, He can give his best. It’s true. He wants you to have the best. Give him that opportunity by giving.”
