Trainsformers—An Urban Christian JourneySample

Count Your Pennies

Carmen S.

As I headed to dinner recently, I saw a penny on the floor. Most people might think, “It’s just a penny.” Not me. I saw the penny and thought, “Every penny adds up to a dollar.” But when I went to pick it up, I noticed people nearby and thought they might judge me. So I decided to go in to eat. If the penny were still there when I came out, I’d pick it up. When I left the diner, however, I forgot about it and went home. 

Later, God reminded me that the penny plays an important role in making a dollar. If I had seen a $10 or even a $1 bill, I wouldn’t have thought twice about picking it up. In fact, I’d have been excited to find some cash. But God showed me that his gifts don’t always come as dollars. Sometimes they come as pennies. 

There are many blessings and gifts that God has already given you. Maybe you have hidden some of them, or perhaps you have passed them by, thinking that they are not important or useful. Are you willing to pick up those gifts, as small as they may be? 

There is a beautiful story in the Scriptures about a widow. She had very little money—we could call it pennies—yet she caught Jesus’s attention. Not because of the quantity of her offering but because as little as it seemed, she still gave it all to God. A little in God’s hands can become a lot. 

As you go about your day, I encourage you to find a penny and use it to remind yourself of a gift that God has given you. Give everything you have to God; give him your pennies. In God’s hands, your gift can become a big blessing to others, as little as it may seem to you. 

Prayer

Lord, please help me to see the many blessings and gifts from you in my life. Help me not to pass them by, but to acknowledge and celebrate them. I know that these little blessings and gifts will bring about bigger ones. In Jesus’s name. Amen.