By Rick Moore

After placing an order, I drove up to the window to pay for my lunch. The employee said the person in the vehicle ahead of me had already paid for my meal. That put such a smile on my face. What a kind gesture. Then she asked me if I would like to pay for the vehicle behind me and “Pass It On.” As the word “sure” exited my mouth, I looked into my rear-view mirror to see a minivan filled with children climbing all over themselves. It appeared to be a soccer mom with the entire soccer team in her vehicle. Suddenly, everything was in slow motion. I reached for my wallet, while whispering a prayer, “Lord, please don’t let this be over $20.” As I took out my debit card I heard the lady at the window say…”That will be thirty-nine dollars and ten cents.”

This wasn’t the first time I have been at a drive-thru window where I was asked to “Pass It On.” I don’t mind giving more than I receive. I actually prefer it. It feels like a let down when the person behind me orders less than I did. But to pay over seven times what I would have owed was a shock to the system. At that moment, I felt more like a sucker than I did a generous person. It was still my choice, but it didn’t feel like it. I felt forced to give more than I wanted to. Moments later, after driving a few miles down the road, that same minivan pulled up beside me at a stop light. The driver honked her horn to get my attention. I turned my head and saw everyone in her vehicle raising their paper cups as if to send me a toast of thanks. That moment made it worth every penny that was spent.

As the story goes, there was a rich Texas billionaire who was looking for the right man to marry his only daughter. He invited a number of her friends who were eligible bachelors to meet at his ranch with the promise of revealing who would receive his blessing to marry her. The father and his beautiful daughter stood on one end of the Olympic-sized pool with everyone else on the other end. He said whoever was the first to swim across the pool would receive his daughter’s hand in marriage and half of all of his wealth.

As the bachelors prepared to dive in, the cover of the pool was removed. The men were all in shock when they looked at what was in it. The pool was filled with alligators, snakes, and all sorts of creepy crawling creatures they’d never seen before. There was a long pause. The men would look at each other, look down at the pool, then look at the beautiful young lady. No one was jumping in. Then, suddenly, they heard a splash at the far end of the pool. A young man was swimming as fast as he could. He was kicking alligators and shaking off snakes as he struggled to make it to the other side. When he reached the other end of the pool, he could barely pull himself out of the water. As the bloodied and tattered man stood to his feet, the others applauded. The father asked him, “now that you have five hundred million dollars and my daughter’s hand in marriage, what is the first thing you want to do?” He responded: “The first thing I want to do is find out which one of the other guys pushed me in.”

When you are pushed beyond your comfort zone, and stretched to give more than you want to, remember, once you get to the other side, the reward will be worth it.

Rick Moore is Communications Pastor at Destiny Worship Center.

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