by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

Debit card, my debit card. Oh how I need that thing.

One day a while back I couldn’t find my card anywhere. I looked for it all afternoon. Even by the next morning, still no trace. I searched high and low, near and far. I even searched under the sofa cushions. That was a little scary. I found 37 cents, three marbles, a T shirt (how had we ignored that lump?), seven M & M’s, my favorite sunglasses, and the TV remote (hey, we’d been looking for that). But no card.

I rifled through my purse for the gazillionth time. Even though I’d already looked there, it was still scary too. There was a ball of purse fuzz the size of a small gerbil. Got to admit I perked up a little when I found the rest of those M & M’s. Another bonus, six different shades of nail polish—most of which weren’t even dried up yet. All of that was hiding among a ream of receipts I would never need. But still no card.

I checked our bank account online to make sure no one had used the rogue card. Nope, no extra charges. Still, I was just this side of panic.

Why in the world is it that I wait until panic starts to set in before I remember where I really need to turn? Finally I thought, I’ll have my time with the Lord and then I can take up the hunt again, hopefully with more peace, less panic.  

I opened my Bible and—you’re not even going to believe this, but I promise it’s true—guess what fell out. Yep. My card! I knew I had marked my place the day before, I just hadn’t realized I used my card to do it. Who absentmindedly sticks a bank card between their bible pages? Evidently, this girl. What a weird move—spiritually and financially. 

I love how the Father chose to teach me this lesson, reminding me where it is I should run first. I found great treasure in the pages of His word that morning. Believe it or not, the real treasure was not even card-related. Psalm 119:14-16 expresses it well. “I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word” (CSB).

Debit cards may come and go, but true riches are from the wisdom found in knowing our magnificent God. Oh how I need this. I mean, really need this. True wisdom and understanding are found in the pages of His word. And as Psalm 49:20 says it, “People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish” (NIV). Doesn’t that mean I can have all the debit cards and all the riches in the world, but unless I have the wealth of the wisdom that comes from knowing Christ, I’m no better off than a dead purse gerbil?

Our wealth is only in Jesus and only because of Jesus—all glory to Him. So hey. Let’s give credit where credit is due. Or debit where debit is due. Whichever.

Rhonda Rhea is a humor columnist for lots of great magazines, including HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway and more. She is the author of 10 nonfiction books, including How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take to Change a Person? and coauthors fiction with her daughter, Kaley Faith Rhea. She and her daughters host the TV show, That’s My Mom, for Christian Television Network’s KNLJ. Rhonda enjoys traveling the country speaking at all kinds of conferences and events. She and her pastor/hubs have five grown children and live in the St. Louis area.