Chapter 33 - There Goes My Hundred Dollars

“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall

reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully
shall reap also bountifully.”

—2 Corinthians 9:6

We had not been on furlough long when I

heard about a meeting at  Freedom Baptist Church in
Rural Hall, North Carolina, featuring a well-known
evangelist. We did not live far from the church, and
my wife and children planned to attend with me.
However, when the day for the meeting arrived,
my wife and children were unable to go. I attended
alone and arrived a bit early. The evangelist was
outside setting up his travel trailer. This evangelist
had no legs, having lost them in the Vietnam War,
yet he moved around as easily as anyone else.
    Since the meeting took place around July 4, it
was aptly named “The Freedom Rally.” The church
was packed to the brim with perhaps more than a
thousand in attendance, and the singing by different
groups were a tremendous blessing. I had never
heard this particular evangelist preach, and what a
preacher he was! It was such an encouragement to
hear from a man of God who had faced so many
adversities in his life.
    The singing and preaching were soon over, and
the invitation drew to a close. It was time to worship
the Lord with a love offering for the speaker.
I thought to myself, “He’s a great preacher.” I will
give a twenty-dollar offering.” I had the money in
my hand as a prayer was offered and the offering
plates passed down the first row. I was seated on the
third row.
    Suddenly the Lord seemed to say to me, “I want
you to give a hundred dollars.” I turned to see if
someone was speaking to me, for I could not believe
what I was hearing. I had no problem giving my
tithes and offerings at my church, but this was a large
amount of money for me. The offering plate Being
passed down the second row. The Lord nudged me a
second time, “I want you to give a hundred dollars.”
    I made my choice and removed the remaining
four twenty-dollars bills in my wallet and placed
a hundred dollars in the offering plate. I literally
watched the plate pass all the way down the row.
I remember thinking, “There goes my hundred
dollars.”
    That money was God’s now. Almost immediately,
the Lord impressed upon my heart that He
was going to give it back to me, plus some. In 1987
a hundred dollars was a large amount of money,
especially for an old country boy like me. I hoped
the Lord would give it back to me very soon, and I
was particularly looking forward to the “plus some”
part.
    While on furlough, I had been doing some
painting with Brother Jimmy Bates, a good friend
of mine, to help make ends meet. The next day I
was to finish a job at a new home. You know what
was on my mind, the hundred dollars and when and
how the Lord would give it back to me. After about
three or more days of working and thinking about
this, my wife called me to tell that we had received
a letter from some people in Maine, whose name I
recognized right away.
    While we were attending school in Sherbrooke,
we had gone to Maine to present our ministry in
some local churches. At one particular church, a
family had asked us to come over for a time of fellowship.
At the appointed time we arrived at the
home and enjoyed an hour of great fellowship. We
left and had not heard anything from this family
until now.
    Curious, I asked my wife, “Well, honey, what
does the letter say?”
    Reading slowly, she said, “The letter says, Would
you please accept this check for your ministry?” I
had no problem accepting checks for our ministry,
as long as they were not “rubber” checks!
    “Honey, how much is that check?” Before my
wife could answer, the Lord impressed upon my
heart that this was what I was getting back for giving
the hundred dollars the other night.
    “Honey,” Linda responded, “this check is for
$1,400.”
    We both had a shouting-and-praising-the-Lord
time right there on the telephone. I was glad no one
else was around because they would have thought
we had won the big lotto.
    We had won more than a big lotto; we had gained
much more faith in the Lord. Before this incident
we had given small amounts. when prompted by the
Lord, but from that time on, we had no problem with
giving any amount the Lord laid upon our heart.

(Copyright by Jay B Ayers)