Isaac, birthdays and having $50 faith

I am calling it the “Isaac incident.” One of the grands who moved from Spokane Valley to Kentucky last year was turning 13. I sent a card with a $50 bill a week before his March 4 birthday. It didn't arrive. I kept checking in. Still no card. I inquired at the post office and, of course, their first words were, “Never send cash in the mail.” 

I'd been doing it for years and never had a problem. But this time looked to be different. It wasn't too small a thing to pray about — nothing ever is. I even asked my family in my weekly email to petition for it to turn up. I said, “Hey, it's soon St. Patrick's Day — a good time for some green to show up in the mail.” It did not. 

This past weekend, Isaac's mom flew to Spokane for a wedding. It now had been over a month since the money went missing. I told him I'd send some birthday cash home with her. I did not have a $50 bill — but I had $40. I gave her two $20 bills — after being assured Isaac had not been told how much was in the card. He would wonder why he was missing $10. He's an entrepreneur, that boy. 

We drove in Saturday to see our daughter. While we were with her, she got a text from her husband, “Isaac's birthday card came today.” Well, what timing. I asked for my $40 back. 

If that card could tell its story. I may never know that one — but there is another I listened to the next day. I was out walking thinking about the “Isaac incident.” I'd prayed — asking for that money to turn up. Was I so ready to discard my confidence in God's ability to intervene as more time went by with nothing happening? Did I think God would forget so quickly or consider it “beneath” His dignity? Was I so ready to judge someone along the mail delivery chain for stealing? I'd heard the caution about sending cards, and people surmising there could be cash inside that type of envelope. 

There I was — as though I'd never asked —creating my own solution for the missing money. I nearly stopped mid-stride in my walking when God's question spoke to my heart, “Do you have a $50 faith, or a $40 faith?” 

Isn't that what too easily happens? I quit on my prayer. I don't trust and wait. I come up with a lesser solution when God has the full answer on its way. My desire is for a $50 faith — believing in Him for the best answers in everything. My own will never be what He can do.  

I spoke with Isaac last evening — and unknowingly he taught me even more about a high-yield faith. It turns out every day since his birthday — when he learned a card was coming — he has been trekking to the mailbox and bringing in the mail face down. He then set it down and flipped each piece, waiting to see if it had his name. 

Day after day — nothing. Then came “The Day.” There it was. He stayed expectant. He not only kept his hope — he acted on it. That is a $50 faith kid.