Borrowing A Quarter - A Story about Trust

Suppose you were at a store, and as you were getting ready to make your purchase, you realized that you didn't quite have enough money to cover the purchase. What would you do?

Go home and get more money? How about walking up to the person behind the counter and asking "Can I borrow some money from the store so I can make my purchase? I'll pay you back the next time I'm here..."

Well, that actually happened to me today. Fortunately, it was at a place of business I go to quite frequently, so the people there know me really well. Fortunately, I was only short by 25 cents. Did they loan me a quarter? Yep. They sure did.

Resource by the creator of Biblical-Illuminations.com

Now, in general, I wouldn't hold out much hope of getting loans that way, and in most stores I wouldn't even think about asking to borrow a quarter. What made the difference here?

Two things. First, as I said, the people there know me. They know that if I say I am going to do something, I will. They trust me. And secondly, their trust wasn't really going to cost them very much. If I didn't pay them back, they would only have lost 25 cents.

The book of Proverbs says (Proverbs 3:5) Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Trusting God means having confidence in Him, that what He says, He will do. Trusting God implies that we believe in His integrity.

But trusting Him with all our heart goes a step further. Trusting Him with all my heart implies that I would trust Him no matter what the cost, or the risk.

Imagine I had walked into that same store and said, "Can I borrow two thousand dollars? I'll pay you back the next time I'm in." Do you think they would have agreed as readily?

No! Because the cost (risk) of their trust would be much higher. They would have to know me far better than they do to be sure I could be trusted with two thousand dollars!

But trusting God with all my heart means that I no longer count the cost - no matter how big or small the issue, I can count on God to fulfill His promises.

Well, now I need to go pay back a quarter!