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Some of you are aware I was discussing tithing and came to a resolution that I might define it differently — on a lesser amount than gross or net. In my heart, I felt right about this, but hadn’t acted upon it because I pay a lump sum at the end of the year. But I had about 75% intention in my heart to do so. Since then something bad happened that has me wondering if I’m being punished for this change of heart.
The longer version of the story is below, feel free to read it if you want. But here is the short version — I just lost 8% of my income.
Do you think this is punishment for my decision to redefine what means a full tithe to me? Did the events leading up to this firing come through divine engineering? Or was it my own choices and interaction with others that caused it? Should I read anything into this about my tithing decision a while ago? Is it a consequence of it?
Comments welcome……………….
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I do part-time work for someone in my company — not my bread and butter, but part-time work related to my full-time work. It brings in about 8% of my annual salary every year, as extra money. Let’s call it the THE PART-TIME JOB. I also have a FULL-TIME JOB with the company, and have a manager we’ll call Cheryl. Well, the MANAGER OF THE PART-TIME job asked me to take on THE PROJECT. He asked me to do it once for free, and I refused. Then he asked me again a month later and offered a very small sum of money — almost insignificant. I said “No”. He then proceeded to explain how it wouldn’t be a lot of work, that there were new processes to streamline things since the last time I did a similar project.
I reluctantly agreed based his apparently minimal scope of work and because he seemed desparate. To make a long story short, when I got into THE PROJECT, it was 5 times the work he suggested to do it properly. I objected and he told me just to tweak the project rather than do it properly, and I thought that was unethical. Plus I didnt’ want my name on a patch-job project as all my peers would be looking at it and using it.
He also got me some critical resources late — too late for me to back out without having to pull the project off the calendar and delay it. I resigned anyway, knowing I was risking THE PART-TIME job if this made him mad.
The MANAGER OF THE PART-TIME JOB then called Cheryl, the manager of my full-time job to get her to force me to complete THE PROJECT. She actually sided with me and told him to buzz off.
THE MANAGER OF THE PART-TIME job then relieved me of THE PROJECT as I asked, and also FIRED ME from the PART-TIME job. Cheryl, the manager of my part-time job said I could make up the lost income through extra work through her, but the work pays far less and will mean a lot more time invested on my part to replace it. Plus its not very desireable work to me. Also, losing THE PART-TIME job is a bit of a blow to my career, not huge, but reduces mobility into new areas due to damage to my reputation from resigning from the project.
So, I have just lost that 8% of my income.
This doesn’t happen to me very often — I’m generally considered a strong performer.
Quote:Do you think this is punishment for my decision to redefine what means a full tithe to me?
Nope. I don’t believe in that level of micro-management – and particularly in that level of punishment. I don’t see God as a puppetmaster or control freak.
I totally agree with Old Timer. Here is an example from my own life. In June our community received a large amount of rain. Many of the homes on my block flooded when the sewers backed up. Ours didn’t. Our neighbor said, “well, I guess you escaped the damage because you pay your tithing!!” I didn’t correct him but we are monthly payers and haven’t been paying for 3 months now for a variety of reasons. So, I think sometimes we as human beings need to find a reason for things that just don’t make sense and look to God for those reasons. We make God act as some parents would, punishing our children for their every move. I don’t think God works that way, but I use to. Ditto, ditto. Good things have happened to me when I could have only expected punishment. Bad things have happened to people who could have only expected blessings. But the other side of what you wrote may reveal how YOU feel about the tithing you have committed yourself to pay. On the other hand it could also be the voices of others and THEIR interpretation. Find the peace in doing as you feel is right – and tune out everything else. Just be sure your peace is honest and authentic.
Do you think this is punishment for my decision to redefine what means a full tithe to me?No
Did the events leading up to this firing come through divine engineering?No, it sounds like bad business management. It sounds like retaliation.
Or was it my own choices and interaction with others that caused it?Yes, it was the choices of others that caused it. I think you did the right thing, and I think they are trying to take advantage of you.
Should I read anything into this about my tithing decision a while ago? Is it a consequence of it?You are free to read anything into it that you want. Some people find spiritual significance in this sort of issue. If you do, fine. Some people don’t find spiritual significance. If you don’t, fine.
Personally, I think it sounds like bad office politics. Was God involved? Perhaps, perhaps not. Time and perspective will let you know, but it’s way too early to make a judgment at this point. Perhaps now that you have more time, some other door will open that is better, or perhaps not. My crystal ball is a bit hazy right now….
😆 It all depends, do you want grossblessings or netblessings? Thanks everyone — I’ve been reflecting on this, and I think this was just a result of my own actions rather than some kind of divine intervention. I
KNEWthat getting fired from THE PART-TIME JOB was a risk when I resigned from THE PROJECT. It wasn’t as if this was a surprise due to some mysterious force behind the scene. I consciously shouldered that risk when I made the decision to resign from THE PROJECT. It was a calculated, possible, and forseeable consequence, and I chose to take it. So, I played a strong role in making it happen, and did so consciously. Now, this makes logical sense to me above. But it raises a question — how do you reconcile this with the scripture that says in D&C 59:
21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.
So, how do you acknowledge God’s hand in this, while still taking full personal responsiblity for what happened to me in getting fired from THE PART-TIME JOB?
Should I simply acknowledge that God’s hand was in this, but don’t believe that it was a direct consequence of my change of heart toward tithing? Comments?
I don’t know, SD – and I have no way of knowing. I can conjecture about generalities, but I don’t like it when people try to figure out why specific things have happened in my life relative to God, so I try to grant others the consideration of not doing so to them. There really isn’t anything more I can say – and, honestly, I’m glad I can’t.
SilentDawning wrote:
So, how do you acknowledge God’s hand in this, while still taking full personal responsiblity for what happened to me in getting fired from THE PART-TIME JOB?Should I simply acknowledge that God’s hand was in this, but don’t believe that it was a direct consequence of my change of heart toward tithing? Comments?
Confessing God’s hand in all things doesn’t necessarily mean micromanagement as Ray mentioned. God has given you life, a body, a brain, and opportunities to use and make the best of them. It doesn’t have to more detailed than that. Assuming a quid pro quo for a questionable (in some people’s mind) choice and a bad outcome is just superstition. Rain falls on everyone, just and unjust, Republicans and Democrats. In the words of my sainted mother, “Don’t sweat the small stuff”.
GBSmith said what I was thinking. Remember the recent conference talk: “YOU Are My Hands” SilentDawning wrote:Some of you are aware I was discussing tithing and came to a resolution that I might define it differently — on a lesser amount than gross or net….In my heart, I felt right about this…Since then something bad happened that has me wondering if I’m being punished for this change of heart.
…Do you think this is punishment for my decision to redefine what means a full tithe to me? Did the events leading up to this firing come through divine engineering? Or was it my own choices and interaction with others that caused it? Should I read anything into this about my tithing decision a while ago? Is it a consequence of it?
No, I don’t think there is any guarantee that if you do everything right then good results will automatically follow especially when other people are involved in the outcomes. Sure I think God can influence things if he really wants to but it looks to me like he is just as likely in most cases to just let people make their own independent decisions and also let some events play out in a random way no matter how unfair it seems to us sometimes (Ecclesiastes 9:11).
If anyone deserves to be punished for not paying tithing it would be me, but after I stopped paying tithing I actually ended up getting better jobs and several significant raises. There have been several layoffs at my current company so God could have easily put the idea that I am expendable into a few key managers’ minds but it turns out that I am still here while many full-tithe-paying TBMs are not anymore. There is no way to explain my own good fortune if we should really expect a noticeable difference in blessings or punishment based on tithing alone.
I agree with Ray, GBSmith, and DevilsAdvocate. We really can’t attribute God as being behind Hitler’s Holocaust can we? Was his hand guiding Hitler? Of course not. God allows things to happen. We can’t expect that good things MUST happen always from following God’s counsel, but it is sure nice when it happens. God does not micromanage our lives. And besides, in 6 months you may have a new opportunity that is better and more lucrative than this part-time job you lost. I lost my job in 2001 a month before 9/11. It took me 8 years to get something better (and involved the sacrifice of going to grad school.) I was a network admin until 2001, and I’m a network admin again, so the previous job helped me get my current job. But along the way, I got a Master of Statistics degree, and that helped me with my current job too. I’d much rather be a full-time statistician and part-time network admin, than the full-time network admin I was 10 years ago. I was miserable, but I probably wouldn’t have left the job and gotten a masters degree without being laid off. So, the lay-off was a blessing, but it took me 8 years to turn that trial into a blessing. Hopefully your blessing will come sooner, but I make no promises.
mormonheretic wrote:I agree with Ray, GBSmith, and DevilsAdvocate. And besides, in 6 months you may have a new opportunity that is better and more lucrative than this part-time job you lost. I lost my job in 2001 a month before 9/11.
Thanks for the story of going back to school.
Same thing happened to me when I was laid off a few years go. I ended up teaching university which has been a huge blessing my life in so many other ways.
I’m glad I was fired from that job as an order planning clerk in manufacturing at the time, more than a decade ago.
I’m already thinking of ways I can replace the income I’ve lost. I do have alternatives, but they are less attractive. Funny thing, in the last year I’ve started other part-time ventures which generate at least as much income as the part-time income lost, so compared to where I was a year ago, I’m no further behind.
I have this drive now, to find ways of replacing the income in new ways. However, one has to be careful of letting spite be the motive; it’s not sustainabl nor is it good for the spirit.
i know this is kind of an old topic, but thought i’d add something that hasn’t been said yet. first off, let me say that i absolutely do not believe that what happened was a punishment from God. Honestly, i’m realizing more and more just how “hands off” God is in this earth life. but, i know everyone doesn’t share my beliefs, and if you are inclined to believe God is more directly involved, then here’s another perspective. have you considered that maybe your decision to pay the lesser amount of tithing was itself inspired? your income has suddenly and unexpectedly decreased, and you just so happen to have come to a conclusion which will ease your financial burdens? if you believe God’s hand is at work, it seems to me He blessed you with a new understanding of tithing, just in time to help you through your financial difficulty. You want divine retribution? The one Sunday I play hooky from church since i started coming back (due to no black shoes!!!), I got stung by a wasp. Just flew towards me, landed on my head, and when I brushed it off, it stung my hand which swelled up like a balloon. I’m sure I noticed it was wearing a white shirt as it flew off, so it must have been a religious wasp.
😆
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