Banking on a promise
Last week, my family hit a terrible financial crisis. I was away from home at the time—not too far, just in the city at a business meeting. But I got a call from mom that went something like this:
“Hi Nyx, I can’t access our new bank account yet because we didn’t reactivate the PIN code in the last two days. I need money for lunch and dinner.” With a bunch of my siblings at home, I felt distressed. I had a few bills in my wallet that would suffice for the meals, but I was away and wouldn’t be back home until late.
“Mom, do you have any money at all on you?” The phone line went dead due to a break in the connection. I spent the rest of the day fretting because she didn’t call back. I figured she’d run out of air time, so I stopped at a shop and sent her E-load. (The wonders of modern technology!) I asked her to call me as soon as possible. When she finally did, she told me to not worry, there was no need to rush home. She’d sorted it out herself.
When I arrived home that evening I asked her how she’d paid the bills. “Oh,” she said, “I just borrowed it from the kids’ piggy bank.”
“Yeah!” they chorused. “Mommy owes us money!”
I looked at them and laughed as they continued: “She owes me 100 pesos,” said one. And another sister chimed in, “she owes me twenty!” “And mom owes me twenty too!” said my 6-year-old brother.
“Wow, you guys are rich!” I joked.
The next day, I examined the piggy bank. It was truly empty. The kids talked about going to the arcade at the mall that afternoon. I wondered how they’d do that with no cash. When I voiced my doubts, they were enthusiastic: “No, mommy promised she’d repay us, and she will! We have money!” (At this point I must clarify to the reader that their piggy bank had contained all of 4 dollars!)
“Hmmm,” I thought to myself. Such childlike faith. The kind of faith I needed just at this Moment. The rent was due soon—not to mention the electric bill, the phone bill, and all those other bills we hate to calculate. An old quote mom used to tell me came to mind: “The promises of God are as real as money in the bank.” As a youngster, I never really understood what that meant. But in this crucial moment, while I meditated on the trusting, positive attitude of the kids, I had a reality check: I had all the promises in God’s Word backing me up in this moment, and they were mine to claim.
Philippians 4:19 – My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Matthew 6:33 – Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Psalms 37:4,5 – Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.
…And many, many other promises I’d staked my life on time and again in the past when I’d needed them. Would they be as real to me now? As real as money in the bank?
The kids asked me to read them a Bible story for our daily devotional, and I complied, though not really knowing what the subject of our little devotional would be. But as I sat there, looking back at their eager faces and innocently trusting eyes, I knew that they had taught me a lesson today. My Heavenly Father had promised me His providence if I would serve Him, and His word had never failed before.
“You know how you guys say you have money even though your piggy bank is empty?” I began the devotional…
That afternoon, mom was able to do the bank processing and activate her ATM card. That afternoon, too, we received a message that someone overseas had made a donation to support my volunteer work. So… needless to say, the kids got their refund, mom cleared the bills, and I got my fulfilled promise.
Dear Friends, I hope this personal story encourages you that all you have to deposit in your time of need is a tiny bit of childlike faith.