Give Your Mite

Widow’s mite: A small contribution from someone who is poor.

The Widow’s Offering Luke 21

21 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.

What don’t you have enough of? What are you poor in?

Maybe you are actually poor and you need more money in your savings account. But, maybe you are poor in

Time

Health

Ability

Language learning capacity

Sleep

Endurance

Patience with local people

Patience with God

Maybe you are poor in

Resources

Skills

Training

Maybe God has called you to more than you are capable of doing. I often feel like I need more time, money, resources, training, language ability, leadership ability, etc. in order to really tackle the job God has asked me to do. And, some more sleep wouldn’t be so bad either.

I thought back in the states we were choosing between “jobs” in overseas ministry. Are you a translator or a literacy worker? Are you interested in Scripture impact or community development? Healthcare missions or compassion ministries?

After a while as true “pioneers” in a needy land, we quickly realized we simply cannot do every task, yet we are continually being pulled by others and often God himself into areas we are neither “gifted in”, or especially interested in.

Imagine how God gets it wrong when he continues to present us opportunities or rather “obligations” to do jobs when he forgot to give us that extra boost of grace or giftedness for that area. Meanwhile, the area where we are “gifted” is being unused or unappreciated.

But, God is His wisdom, asks us to come to him with what we have. And, then proceeds to ask that we give whatever is it that we do indeed have, to him. In all it’s embarrassing, small, unimpressive, awkward yet, God-given “glory.”

We give our widow’s mite. We wait for the laughs and scorns from the onlookers.

Let us encourage each other, to give all we have to the Lord, not only in our wealthy areas of “giftedness” but especially in our areas of poverty. God can use our strengths to his glory, but perhaps more so our weaknesses. As He calls us to give ourselves, let us look for the opportunities before us to serve and give.

If, like the widow, we give all we have in love, God will be pleased.