Two Cents

How much do you value two cents? Be honest with yourself. If you were to see two cents laying on the seat of your car would you leave it there? Would you pick it up and toss it aside? Would you put it in your pocket in hopes of using it when you hit $10.02 at the gas pump instead of $10.00 exactly? Would you get excited that you had two cents more than you did before you found it?
I could keep going-I'll spare you though and just tell you what I would do-what I did do. I left the two cents laying on the driver's seat of my car. It has been there for over a week now. Every time I get in the car, I see it. Every time I get in the car, I leave it. Who cares? Not me. Two cents just does not seem valuable to most people, including me. You might be thinking that after time, two cents will begin to add up. You're right too, it will. It does take a while though-but it can add up. Here is my problem, I rarely use cash. I put nearly every purchase on my debit card. Having two cents, especially in pennies, does me no good.
Now, those of you who know me should probably know that I have been spending the past few months trying to decipher the direction God wants to take my life. Let me rephrase that-the direction God is taking my life. In the past two weeks I have been able to find peace and comfort in finally knowing what God "wants me to be when I grow up." I have had the option of becoming a full time grade-school teacher, or a youth pastor. I am confident that God has designed me to be a youth pastor. Sure, I would enjoy teaching in a public school. I even think I'd do a darn good job. I have a degree in it and all. But my true design is that of a youth pastor. It is what I love, it is what I thrive in, and it is what I know God wants me to do.
Because of my decision, I have been receiving a whole lot of "two cents" lately. Not two literal pennies, but people's opinions and inputs on my decision. Most of them have been very caring and friendly. Some, however, haven't. I've talked with people who totally support my decision to not teach. Others, though, believe that I should teach. These people have also spent a good chunk of my time lately giving me their "two cents" on why I should teach, why I shouldn't be a youth pastor, and the like.
Now, before I go on, let me say this-everyone has been looking out for my best interest and I truly appreciate it. Well, I appreciate it now. I didn't appreciate it though. I had made my decision and I didn't need other people telling me what they thought. Especially people who disagreed with my decision not to teach. Their two cents was not valuable to me. I just wanted to leave them on my driver's seat.
Then I read this:
Ecclesiastes 9:13-17
I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

Instead of seeing my friends' two cents as wisdom, I have been seeing it as loud, obnoxious shouting. God has shown me something over the past few days though. Even if I do not completely agree with my friends opinions about teaching, that does not make them unwise. I haven't come across a single person who has told me not to become a youth pastor that didn't have some solid reason. Everyone has backed up their two cents with a good reason. Everyone has come to me with wisdom and my best interest at heart. Should I just forget them? Ecclesiastes is very clear-do not forget the wise. I will not spend everyone's two cents. But I will not leave it on the seat of my car either. Instead, I will put it in my pocket and wait for that time at the gas station when I hit $10.02 rather than $10.00 even. Who knows-maybe their two cents, their wisdom, will save me just like it saved the poor man's city. If not, at least I'm two cents richer.

Take a look at Ecclesiastes 9 today. Are you ignoring the wise? Are you giving those around you credit for their two cents, even if you aren't going to use it right away?

Pick up the two cents off your car seat. You may not use it right away, but someday you're bound to pump $10.02. And if you never go over on the pump, hey, you're two cents richer.