A DOLLAR IS THE MUSTARD SEED OF MONEY
Start with the smallest!
Mark 4:30-32
From Jesus: "...whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out great branches so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it."
Holy Spirit is the most creative Guy, He dropped this phrase ( a Dollar is the mustard seed of money) into my spirit a couple of days ago and I felt His refreshment immediately. He knows my struggles over money. He is also my writing Coach and Teacher!
Just like the humble penny, sometimes a humble one dollar bill is dissed and condemned as nearly useless.
I respectfully and strongly disagree.
As someone who grew up middle class from the labors of both my parents, I had no clue once I made my way out into the world. A creative and daydreamy kid, I had no inner fire for making money. Waylaid by terrible grief in my early teens (two deaths of immediate family members within two years), I never fully crawled up and out of the grieving state and never have achieved middle class status. I wandered in rebellion from my Christian faith as a Prodigal for over three decades, no owning of a home, no children, no completed higher education, no heavy internal drive to succeed. I have been a lower income person all my adult life and while that is difficult and draining, it also supremely sharpens your resourcefulness and awareness of some opportunities hiding in plain sight. I always have wondered about how many billionaires did not finish college...hmmm...entrepreneurs?
I have worked at all kinds of jobs in my adult life. I also had some help along the way, for which I am grateful...but I have also had to become very street smart and more fully aware of my surroundings and possibilities. I am most definitely a survivor. As a new online friend I met recently on Substack mentioned to me, speaking both of herself and husband and me as well," And I am proud that we are a totally different species than 'thrivers' " Her comment meant to me that survivers keep aware and have radar on all the time, rather than dismissing people or opportunities. I am 100% wired like that. As challenging as it is, I will take street smart over higher education alone, any day.
I cherish the value of pennies, which hang out in my coin bank and when I have fifty of them, that is two quarters, which then transmit to more laundry coins. Dollar bills themselves are paper and linen opportunities! Having been a member of the working poor for so many years, I have certainly honed my survival skills and now partner with God, His Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit, in the path of ministry to the brokenhearted and those struggling with money.
I learned the hard way. I had a terrible misadventure with the unpleasant world of credit card debt, in which I had a thoroughly chastening experience via a five year payment plan through a Chapter 13 bankruptcy back in 2002. I did not rebuild my credit after making every one of the payments for 60 long months. I have lived on cash and debit ever since, I have zero debt. Some of us (addictive temperaments like mine) simply cannot be trusted with Visa or Mastercard. I am not against credit cards but only for them who can control them. I cannot.
So, a penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter and a dollar bill, are all my friends along the road and my blessings in small mustard seed form from God Himself. I think of the Biblical story of the "widow's mite", the poor widow who was observed by Christ Himself at the doorway of the Jewish temple, as she offered her tiny amount, giving from her need, as He said. He felt her sincerity more than the grandiose Pharisees who gave so much more (they wanted to be SEEN!)
I so fully relate to that story, as also with the Prodigal Son. This parable is essentially my life Parable from Christ, of the wandering and rebellious son who demanded his inheritance early, took it and squandered it in riotous living, fell into despair and abject poverty and crawled back home to ask his Dad to hire him as a servant in order to feed himself! His Father welcomed him back and NOT as a servant, as the template for Father God Himself.
Jesus spoke of the power of faith as small as a mustard seed. A mustard seed is tiny! I have almost nothing left from my own Mother, who died overnight when I was 13. She gave me a Bible when I was 11 or 12 and a bracelet with a mustard seed. That tiny seed I still have, inside a crystal holder. It is a nudge of love to remember the seeds planted do have power, both good and bad. I have plenty of bad seeds (negative thoughts) to dig up. Step by step, until Papa God calls me Home, I am digging each thought up. It is an arduous and very difficult journey, on which I have still, too many stops and starts and collapsing in a pile of tears and despair. Yet God lovingly hears my cries, dries my tears, helps me see where I fell and hugs me back up...again onto the narrow path.
I have not wielded great faith power yet in my walk with God and His Son. I continue on, however, with my personal ministry to the sorrowful, the brokenhearted, the poor whom Holy Spirit brings across my path. I find great hidden value in the dismissed, the unvalued, the condemned, the invisible, the laughed at, the unseen and the unexpected.
I will hold fast to my resonating with the small, such as the power of a mustard seed, a penny and a dollar bill. I salute those who can manifest larger amounts...but the root of all of that is...a penny and a dollar.
Wendy Elizabeth Williams September 6, 2024
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I loved this post... your warmth in sharing your experiences ... the wisdom of what you have learned ... and the perspective that generates gratitude and recognition of the value of small things. I think everyone should read this post every once in a while. I plan to.
Wendy, I appreciated reading this, and I think of how hard it would be to lose your mother at a young age. I sometimes think of how formative our early life experiences are, and your insight that grief led you to move in a certain direction as a young person is important. I often think about how much of our lives as humans are influenced by our responses to something. Thankful for you and your honesty and insights.