He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
Psalm 40:2 NIV
This year (2022), the euro turned 20 years old in Italy and 18 other European countries. In Italy, it replaced the lira. Getting used to the new single currency was not easy, especially for older people. I remember how one day I was at the supermarket doing my shopping. When I arrived at the checkout counter, there was an elderly lady in front of me who had paid and received a handful of coins as her change. It was my turn, and as my groceries passed quickly at the cash desk, the lady was still there looking carefully at the coins and, with a worried look, flipping a 2-euro one back between her fingers.
"This is not Italian," she exclaimed, addressing the cashier. "Ma'am, they are euros," the cashier replied to her. "But this currency is not Italian, it is Spanish, can you change it for me?" the lady replied. "Now we have a single currency, it doesn't matter if it's Spanish, it's worth the same," the cashier answered her. I, too, stepped in to reassure the elderly woman that the 2- euro-coin was valid even though the back had a picture of the Spanish king on it. With a "Bah!" in resignation, the lady headed for the exit.
Meanwhile, after paying, I too received my change, and guess what, there was a 2-euro-coin with the effigy of Dante Alighieri. It was an Italian coin! Then an idea came to me. I grabbed my shopping bag and rushed out of the supermarket. The old lady was not far away. I called her.
"Look, lady, the cashier gave me an Italian coin. If you want you can exchange yours for mine."
"Oh, thank you! You know, I prefer to have Italian coins because I'm better off with them, do you understand?"
"Sure, I understand you," I answered her. "Thank you," she said, greeting me with a smile of relief.
On the way home I reflected. For that old lady to have to deal with the euro must have been a problem. She no longer had the old lira that had accompanied her all her life. So, she had devised a way to regain some security. Since there was the euro, she clung to the Italian euro. Italian currencies made her feel more comfortable, at ease ... "I feel better," she had told me.
We live in a "slimy," ever-changing world. Yet, we need certainty to live peacefully. We believe in a God who does not change, and who gives us security. What God said thousands of years ago is still valid today! His promises have been fulfilled in the past and are also fulfilled today at the right time when we claim them. Therefore, in an ever-changing world, we rest our feet on solid ground.
The psalmist says, "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand" (Psalm 40: 2NIV). I am struck by this image of the slimy quagmire, which brings to mind quicksand, a place where we sink because we find nothing solid to rest our feet on. The psalmist, on the contrary, says that God sets my feet to stand on the rock! God is our sure rock. May this certainty enlighten our lives every day.