A couple years ago, it was a Saturday night service at Refuge Huntington Beach. A church service just like any other. My husband was at his usual post; the sound booth. You can see everything from up there. He peered over to his right to see a woman with grey unkempt hair. Her clothes were tattered, and her tired eyes showed that life had been hard. All of her belongings were organized neatly in a utility cart she had rolled in to the sanctuary with her. She sat quietly in the back of the room.
After a few announcements, the offering bags began to be passed as the worship team played a song. My husband glanced over at the woman as she reached into her cart with her wrinkled hands. She pulled out a jar full of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Goosebumps covered his arms as he watched her empty half of them into the offering bag! Remind you of anything? It was exactly the story told in the book of Mark 12:41-44.
Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”
May we all be so inclined to give, not out of our abundance, but our need. When we give out of our abundance it makes sense, we can afford to. What about when you can’t afford to? When we give out of our need, we are showing God that we trust Him to provide.
Will you give to God out of your need? Know that He isn’t into quantity, He’s into quality. Namely the quality of your heart. What state is your heart in? Are you sold out, and abandoned to do whatever God calls you to do, to give whatever He calls you to give? I challenge you. The woman had about as much money as my kids have in their piggy banks, yet she was quick to give it away. May we be quick to answer God’s call to give, no matter how much He requires of us.