Pennies

Lately I've been cleaning a lot as part of the internship at River Valley Ranch. There is something that I always seem to come across during that time, pennies. These small coins are considered by many as completely worthless or even an annoyance. I heard a story several years ago about a person who was rather rich, but he would always pick up a penny when he saw it on the ground, because it has the words "In God We Trust" engraved on it. The main part of the story is the man telling someone that every time he picks up a penny he reevaluates how he is living his life and whether or not he is really trusting God in that moment. If he is, he thanks God and keeps the penny as a sign of God's promise. If he is not, he steps back, prays and gives everything over to God and then keeps the penny as a sign of his commitment to trusting God. He goes on to say that he is glad that God is patient and that pennies are plentiful.

As I said though, I have been finding many of these pennies and I'm constantly reminded of this story and have passed it along to many of the other interns. Its easy to think about the story and think, man that is cool. Its a different story entirely to live it out. I mean really trusting God with everything in my life. Every single issue that goes through my head. Its a daunting task. Logic will often scream to me that my trust makes no sense and that it will only result in hardship for me. My own desires continually block my ability to see that I need to be trusting in the sovereign God. I'm sure that I'm not alone in that. Full out trust in an invisible God can seem difficult and can even lead to frustration at times, but we must trust nonetheless. Just as the man in the story said, I'm glad that God is patient and that pennies are plentiful.