A thought from Jason
December 4, 2000
Pain in a Penny
Life is tough sometimes. I know that all of you can relate with me when I say, "Life isn't easy". If it were, there would be no such thing as hope.
What a wonderful word: Hope. I've known people named Hope. The word just causes you to think about your life doesn't it? It's what we do most of the time; we're thinking about life. When did you ever stop thinking about your life? Go ahead scratch your head, because the answer is never. Funny huh? We never stop thinking about our lives. Only when we die, only then we will cease to think in this physical body of ours.
Let me tell you a story that caused me to think of the word hope. Just recently, I decided to leave the pressures of school behind me and go out for a night at the "Happiest Place on Earth". I was walking over to see the "wishing well" at Sleeping Beauty's Castle, when I felt something odd hit me. I must admit my first thought was, "Wow, look at all that money down there. If I could only get down there, that would be enough for maybe a couple days, maybe weeks, of fast food eating. (Not that I really need it, but you would sympathize with me if you knew the cafeteria here on campus).
As my eyes got lost in the masses of coins at the bottom of the clear pool in the well, a woman ran up to the well and grabbed onto the pole next to it. It startled me, so I stepped back and took a brief look at this woman at the well. She began to cry.
My heart began to wonder, not so much about the money anymore, but about what was disturbing this woman. I tired to get a word out, but I couldn't. She held, ever so tightly in her hand, a penny. All she had was a penny. After weeping for a couple of minutes she let the penny drop into the fake well and she walked away, head down. I tried not to stare but I couldn't help it.
Why was she hurting so badly? What did she wish for at this well? I sat down and began to think about this woman. She had no hope. She came to a fake well, for crying out loud! She released all her anxiety in a penny being thrown into an amusement park attraction. Her pain puzzled me, but guess what? It doesn't puzzle Jesus. When she ran to the well, He was there. When she cried, He cried. When she let the penny drop into the well, Jesus didn't forget it. All those coins in that well represented a wish, a pain, or perhaps a regret.
Hope is what Jesus offers you. We truly don't know what the Lord has to offer us, or what He might take away from us. But whatever circumstance you find yourself in, present your penny to the Lord. Believe me, your problem may seem big, but its not too big for the Creator of All to take care of. Jesus wants you so badly. He yearns to hold you and focus all of His attention just on you.
That woman, I didn't know her name, I couldn't speak to her, and I don't even know if she was going to get better…But God does. Take comfort in that. God knows, and He's in control.
So do you have a penny, or even a bag of pennies to throw into Gods well? Go ahead, because they won't just sit there; He will pay attention to each one. And when He's done, your pain will be replaced with His loving arms around you providing direction. Jesus loves you; live in His love.
Lamentations 3:21-26
This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.
Have a blessed day.... Jason