Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to a Drug Store.
She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too busy at that moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise to attract the man but it didn't.
She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster, yet nothing happened.
Finally she took the cap of her jar and banged it on the glass counter, 'that did it' she said. "And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice."I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply to his question.
"Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really, really sick... and I want to buy a faith."
''I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist. His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head, and my Daddy says only faith can save him now. So how much does faith cost?".
"We don't sell faith here, little girl. I'm sorry, I can't help you," the pharmacist said, softening a little. "Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs." The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of faith does your brother need?"
"I don't know," Tess replied with her eyes welling up. "I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation.
But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money.
"How much do you have?" asked the man.
"One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered barely audibly. "And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to".
"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents--- the exact price of a faith for little brothers." He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the faith you need."
The well dressed man was a surgeon, specialized in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn't long Andrew was home again, and doing well. Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.
"That surgery," her Mom whispered. "was a real miracle from faith". I wonder how much it would have cost?".
Tess smiled, She knew exactly how much a faith cost, one dollar and eleven cents, as a little child.
Points to consider:
Without faith it is impossible to do anything, therefore, by faith, miracles occur. Faith is expensive; it might require you giving up one dollar and eleven cents like Tess or your Isaac like the very father of faith - Abraham. If you think Faith is expensive, try Fear!
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14-17)
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