The Handshake That Cost Him Everything

In 2008, when the housing market collapsed and took half of Wall Street with it, a small contractor named Bob Thompson in Grand Rapids, Michigan, found himself staring at a stack of bids he'd already committed to. He had shaken hands with fourteen families — no contracts signed yet, just his word — promising to build their homes at pre-crash prices. His suppliers had since raised costs by thirty percent. Every other builder in town was renegotiating or walking away entirely.

Bob's accountant laid it out plainly: honoring those handshake deals would cost him over two hundred thousand dollars. "Nobody would blame you," she said. "The whole industry is doing it."

Bob built every single house at the price he'd promised. He drained his savings. He sold his lake cabin. He told a reporter from the Grand Rapids Press, "My daddy taught me that your word is the only thing nobody can repossess."

Within three years, Bob Thompson had a two-year waiting list. Not because of clever marketing, but because fourteen families told everyone they knew about a man who kept his promise when it cost him dearly.

David writes in Psalm 15 that the one who dwells in the presence of the Almighty "keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind." Integrity is not tested when it is convenient. It is proven precisely when the price is high — and that is the character God honors with His presence.