WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET?

Image by Newton Free Library via FlickrHe looked clean and as though he might have been studying or preparing for a meeting, I thought, glancing at his notebook and worn day planner so I was taken aback whenever he approached me and asked if I had any money I could give him.


"I'm sorry miss, I don't want to scare you but I'm looking for work and I am running low on cash until I get a check later this week. My wife and I are trying to raise three boys. Could you spare anything to help me out?"

I honestly didn't know how much cash I had. I seldom carry much at all, but I remembered a day or two before, I had $50 and several other bills from a check I had cashed. I opened my wallet to find $10 and a few ones. I handed the gentleman $13, apologizing there had been so little cash, wondering myself where the money had gone.

"No, no, you don't need to apologize," he assured me. "This is your money. You didn't need to give me anything. I truly appreciate it and hope to not have to be in this position again. Thank you, thank you so much and have a wonderful day."

As he walked away, I wondered where the money had gone and if I would have given him the $50 or whatever had been left in my wallet had there been even more?

I am no different from many people. I want my eyes to avoid panhandling or anything that looks like it at all costs. Everyone from the Bernie Madoff's to simple con artists who make up hard luck stories have swindled people out of their hard earned cash. How do I determine who is worth sharing my resources with, who I trust, who I deny? I didn't know whether this individual was being honest or not but I know daily we are asked to make decisions that are uncomfortable but necessary.

I knew this wasn't money I would really miss but I also knew that within 2-3 days, I had dwindled nearly $100 cash into the $13 I had handed the gentleman and I wasn't really able to account for all of it. Yes, there was the stop at the drug store, the book of stamps I purchased, getting the dog's nails groomed but for the most part, it had simply dwindled. Maybe that is what happened to that man's dignity and opportunities in life as well; they had simply dwindled to the point of less than he had hoped.

I asked myself many questions that day, "Why am I blessed to have enough and maybe even more?", "How do I know that I will never be in a similar position as this man regardless of what I have today?" and then I recalled the words of Matthew 25:40,

The King will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

Image via Wikipedia          As I drove from the parking lot, I noticed an ATM near the building where the gentleman asked for assistance and I asked myself one more thing, "Did I miss a chance to give God more?"

How about you? Would you have given all the money you had, gone to the ATM or walked away?

Sometimes we have to make hard but necessary decisions.