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Financial Breakthrough Through Worship (Towdah)

Like many young marrieds, Sandy and I struggled financially. On more than one occasion there was too much month at the end of the money. We weren’t poverty-stricken, but we sweat bullets about the bills many times.

One such occasion we were scheduled to drive from  Oklahoma City to western Kansas to speak at a youth retreat. Problem was, there was no gas in the car and we were flat broke. How were we going to get there?

During that same period, I’d begun reading  Seven Ways to Praise the Lord, a book about seven Hebrew words that are translated “praise”— each of which portraying a unique facet of glorifying God.

I had just finished the chapter about “towdah,” meaning:

An extension of the hand in adoration, avowal, or acceptance. Towdah is used in the Psalms and elsewhere to describe thanking God for things not yet received, as well as things already in hand.

14 “Sacrifice thank offerings (towdah) to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High,
15 and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” Psalm 50:14

While looking around the house for gas money, we decided to give our “towdah” to God.

Anybody can praise God when the blessing is in hand; But it takes faith and determination to praise Him when the bank account is empty.

Somehow we were able to scrape together enough from the couch and miscellaneous crooks and crannies to get gas money for our journey to the Jayhawk state.

Now en route, we were waiting at a small town Kansas traffic light when a car turned in front of us bearing a vanity license plate. There shouting in big bold letters was a message straight from heaven: TOWDAH

Color us flabbergasted!  A Hebrew word from a book I was reading had been custom ordered by a Kansan to adorn their car—and then just “happened” to show up in a small town intersection at exactly the right moment!

But that’s just the first “God-sequence” in this story. We’d been back home for a short while when we received a phone call from some friends interested in how we were doing. We said fine, but our friends probed further, asking about our finances.

Reluctant and embarrassed, we told them we were “a bit behind on things.” Our friends then joyfully informed us they wanted to catch us up on our bills. Wow.

Not only did they pay our past due bills, but they insisted on taking us with them on an all expenses paid trip to a conference in Texas. We were blown away by their lavish generosity!

Towdah is what you do between “amen” and “here it is.” Towdah will keep you connected to heaven when hell is breaking loose all around you. Towdah is a lifestyle that liberates you from living “fine, under the circumstances.” Towdah is a way to express your childlike faith in a good, good Father.

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