Providence

This whole semester I have been waiting for the financial aid office at the community college to process my financial aid.  The upside of waiting was that I didn't have to pay for my classes until my aid had been processed.  Now that it has been processed, I have to come up with nearly $500 as soon as possible.  Because I am part time, I was given more than $200 less than what the federal government gave me.  
That was the background story.  On Saturdays I tutor a high-schooler in Latin.  When I was wandering around town while waiting for the train to go back home, I went to an ATM to deposit some cash.  I stuck it all in the ATM (envelope free), but it wouldn't accept a five and a one.  I thought that was odd, so I tried reinserting it, but it was rejected again.  I thought, "Oh,well," and went to the train station.
I am normally pretty regular about when I tithe my money.  However, due to the circumstances related above, I thought I couldn't afford to tithe even just ten percent of my money.  Once my tuition was paid, I probably would have made it up, but at this point I really thought I couldn't afford it.  So, this morning as I was getting ready for church, I realized that the ATM had rejected six dollars, exactly ten percent of what I had made since I had last tithed.  Random? I didn't think so.  I took the money to church and put it in the offering plate.  And what was the sermon on this morning? 1 Corinthians 16:1-4:
"Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.  On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come, no collections will have to be made.  Then when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them on their way to Jerusalem.  If it seems advisable for me to go also they will accompany me."
I still don't know how I am going to pay for my tuition, but I do know that God wants us to give as cheerful givers.  Sometimes we still need a little reminder that what we have is not ours but God's in the first place.  We're just giving back to Him.