Abandoned pennies are something we have all encountered along our journey through life. Frequently, when my husband and I take morning walks, we return home with at least one, if not several, forsaken pennies we have found along the way. Pennies found on the sidewalk are usually ones that have simply been dropped and need to be picked up. At the most, they have been kicked around a bit but have very insignificant scratches on their faces. Other pennies that we have found in parking lots or along street curbs show more obvious nicks and have been left unnoticed only to be driven over repeatedly by cars. And, still others found in the early morning hours lie hopelessly abandoned in intersections. Throughout the day no one would dare risk rescuing these abandoned and forsaken coins. As a result, they become marred almost beyond recognition.
One afternoon I needed to do some banking. While there, I asked the teller if the bank held any marred pennies. I explained to her that I was working on a project and needed about 100. After asking her supervisor, she told me that the bank had none and that all mutilated coins were pulled and destroyed. As she worked to complete my transactions, I felt the need to explain why I was soliciting the pennies. I shared that I was speaking at a women's retreat and I wanted to use the pennies as a visual aid to help the participants remember the point of the lesson I was teaching.
Many today are like those battered pennies. They too have been scratched and dulled. They feel alone and run over. Some have even become so bent and broken that they see themselves as utterly worthless.
Many times I had reflected on how the tarnished and forgotten pennies are like so many women today. Like the coin, they have been scratched and dulled. They feel alone and run over. Some have even become so bent and broken that they see themselves as utterly worthless. I wondered if I was encountering such a woman in this teller.
Noting that I had piqued some interest in this young lady, I continued to share, telling her that many women have in their past encountered a variety of experiences that have inflicted wounds and left scars. Some have been neglected, others abused, and still others have been left hopelessly abandoned like the penny in the intersection, marred almost beyond the point of emotional recognition.
For some women, the oppressive treatment continues until they are no longer able to recognize who they are. They believe lies they have been told. They believe they have no worth and that their past has destroyed any value they once had. They no longer believe they are significant to themselves, to God, their marriages, their families, their jobs, or their ministries. They consider themselves to be absolutely worthless.
As the teller politely listened, I continued to share. The marred pennies are going to be embedded in a clear plastic and given to each woman at the retreat to remind her of her worth in spite of her condition. “Wouldn't you agree,” I asked, “that if I brought a tarnished or marred penny into this bank, I would receive the full value of the coin regardless of its condition?” The penny is worth one cent. The one who holds the coin determines its value.
I concluded by saying it is also so with us as women. Regardless of a past that has in some way broken our spirits, or bent our emotions, or battered the “little girl” inside, when Jesus looks at us He sees us as precious and valuable, dearly loved. He loved us so much that He gave His life for us on the cross and now our worth comes completely from Him. He is the Healer of our past. We are forgiven and restored! We are of full value to Him!
Yet, regardless of a past that has in some way broken our spirits, or bent our emotions, or battered the “little child” inside, when Jesus looks at us He sees us as precious and valuable, dearly loved. We are of "full" value to Him!
About this time the clerk finished her task, put down her pen, and looked me straight in the eye. “You know,” she said, “you were brought here to say this just for me today. I'm being told things that are not true. They are destroying me and I've been told lies so long that I've started believing them. I need to remember that I am valuable. I am significant.”
“Yes,” I said. “Your value is determined by how God looks at you and to Him you are a priceless treasure.” Leaving her I said, “Don't forget the story of the forgotten penny!”
Returning home that day I could not help but reflect on the biblical story that was to be the basis for the upcoming retreat weekend. It was the story of the woman in Luke 13, the woman who was bent over for 18 years whom Jesus touched and healed with the words, “You are set free.” Isn't this bent over woman sitting in the synagogue, also, like one of those forgotten and marred pennies? I thought. Doesn't she represent women in all walks of life who, if not physically scratched and scarred, are emotionally, and perhaps even spiritually bent over, unable to lift their heads and walk tall? Doesn't she stand for the millions who want so desperately to be worth full value?
I left the bank that day without any pennies, but convinced that Jesus had touched a life. Looking for and finding opportunities for sharing the gospel involved a proactive approach to connecting people to Jesus. The penny enabled me to bring the Good News to a receptive woman. In fact, connecting this bank teller to Jesus happened quite naturally.
With joy in my heart and resolve in my step, I could only celebrate the Lord's goodness. Each marred penny I acquired would be embedded in plastic and attached to a key chain. A little note card would encourage each retreat attendee to keep her penny visible as a reminder that, regardless of her past, she is a woman of great worth whose value is determined by the One who both created and redeemed her. Now she is free to share with others who have been marred and scarred by life that they, too, are deeply loved and favored treasures of the Most High God!
Thank you, Jesus, for Your great love for me. You bent over and rescued me and have made me a precious penny once again. For the one who holds the coin determines its value, and You have made me a penny of full value!
OUR FULL VALUE IN JESUS
Sometimes, Lord, I feel as worthless as a dropped and forgotten penny. People pass me on the sidewalk and don't think I'm worth the bother to bend over and pick up. After all, I'm just a penny. I get stepped on and sometimes even kicked or scuffed a bit which scratches my shine. I just feel left behind, abandoned, and I want so much for someone to just notice me and care enough to pick me up.
Sometimes life is harder on me, Lord. Sometimes I feel like I'm a dropped penny laying in the parking lot of life. I've not only been dropped and lie there unnoticed and unappreciated, but now, time after time. tires drive over me without any regard for who I am. It hurts to get pushed around and driven over. I'm losing my shine and I don't feel attractive anymore.
O Jesus, then there are the times when I've felt dropped and left to survive in the intersection. I exist unnoticed. Life all around me passes so quickly. I look up and shudder at what's about to happen next. I feel so broken and thrashed. No one can even recognize me as a penny. I just get over one trauma and another is ready to happen. Lord, please send someone to the margins of my life. Enable them to take the risk and rescue me.
Thank You, Jesus, for Your great love for me. You bent over and rescued me and have made me a precious penny once again. You have made me a penny of full value. When the Father looks at me through Your love, through Your life, death, and resurrection, He regards me as His child in whom He is well pleased. In You, Jesus, I have been buried. In You I have been made alive. “…You are a shield around me, O LORD, my Glorious One, who lifts up my head” (Psalm 3:3).
