The Turning Tides

Everybody thinks they know the value of money…

Until money disappears.

Everybody thinks they’re above somebody…

Until life puts them on the other side.

The wheel keeps turning.

The tides keep changing.

And sometimes God has to take away your riches

just to show you what makes a person truly rich.

The rich man stood where the marble floors gleamed,

Gold on the walls, living somebody’s dream.

Looked down on the people struggling below,

Like their pain was something he didn’t need to know.

Then he saw a man with his clothes worn thin,

Back bent from the weight that he’d been carrying in.

Hands rough from working, stomach empty with hunger,

Still prayed every night when the day was over.

“Why should I share? That’s your problem, not mine.

You made your choices, I’m enjoying what’s mine.”

He turned his back while the poor man walked away,

Never knowing tomorrow could rewrite today.

Because fortune’s a wheel and the wheel always spins,

What’s lost by one could be another man’s win.

The winds started changing, the tide started shifting,

And everything he owned started slowly drifting.

The tides turn, the tables change,

What goes up can fall again.

Gold don’t last, and crowns don’t stay,

Tomorrow could rewrite today.

So if you got it, give a little,

If you see pain, don’t turn away.

‘Cause the richest heart ain’t the one with gold—

It’s the one that gives it away.

The rich man’s mansion became an empty room,

Cold nights came and the darkness came soon.

Gold disappeared, every dollar was gone,

The man who had everything couldn’t carry on.

Meanwhile the poor man rose from the ground,

Blessings came pouring, his faith came around.

Then one day their paths crossed on a street,

And the rich man was the one begging for something to eat.

The poor man looked and recognized the face,

The same man who once looked down on his place.

He could’ve walked past, could’ve laughed, could’ve said,

“You remember me? You left me for dead.”

But hatred wasn’t living inside of his chest,

He chose compassion instead of revenge.

A meal, a coat, somewhere safe to sleep,

He gave him the mercy he once couldn’t receive.

The rich man cried as his pride hit the floor,

Finally understanding what life was for.

“You had nothing,” he said, “but somehow you gave.”

The poor man smiled, “Love is what makes us rich every day.”

The tides turn, the tables change,

What goes up can fall again.

Gold don’t last, and crowns don’t stay,

Tomorrow could rewrite today.

So if you got it, give a little,

If you see pain, don’t turn away.

‘Cause the richest heart ain’t the one with gold—

It’s the one that gives it away.

The man with the mansion lost his wealth…

But the man with nothing

had something money could never buy.

A heart full of grace.

Because sometimes…

the person you looked down on yesterday

might be the person God uses to lift you tomorrow.

The tides turn.

Don’t forget it.