Day 23 - How much is a mite, anyway?

Totally thought I'd posted this yesterday, whoops! So...pretend it's Saturday ;)

Giving all you have to give - Luke 21:1-4

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 

 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.  

“Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  

All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; 

but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” 

"The widow gave all she had because God was worth all she had. This is the heart that Jesus wanted to highlight - a heart worth preserving for all eternity."

Questioning:

-How often do you give all you have to God?

Not often enough. I mean there's always more I could be giving, I definitely have excess, though sometimes I like to think I don't. Compare myself to half the rest of the world, and I'm a rich man. However, I don't think this means God always calls us to empty our bank accounts into the offering plate each Sunday, rather, it is about the heart. It's about being willing to empty our bank accounts, live on next-to-nothing (or nothing!) and always trust that God will provide. If we feel a little twinge to give, a desire to put more into the offering basket, sponsor a child, donate to an organization, or support a missionary, and the "logical" part of our brain says "you don't have the money for that..." - I think our automatic reaction should be to give, if the excuse we have for not giving is that we "don't have enough," God solidly reminds that He will provide enough, our job is to trust. 

-It's clear from this story that God is not concerned with the amount you give, but with why you give the amount you do. What might be the hardest thing to give over or give back to God? Why?

I think for me it's people. I want to hold on to them, their love, their friendship, I don't want to accept the possibility that if I relinquish a difficult or struggling relationship to God, the answer might be, "it's over, time to move on." 

-Financially, what could you be giving (even now as a poor student) to show God's worth to you?

I could be giving more, and I've been praying a lot recently about how much and to what/who God wants me to sacrifice. I don't want to just be tithing money, I want to be sacrificing money, choosing to live more frugally and with less things so that I can further His kingdom. That's usually how I tithe. Instead of giving 10%, I pray and ask God how much He wants me to give. Granted, it's usually above 10%, but I also know God will provide. So when I put that $20 in the offering basket that I was going to use for something else important, God will give me another way to pay. He always provides. I know that. 

-How hard is it for you to trust God with the financial areas of your life? How often do you come to prayer asking for His provision? 

It used to be a lot harder than it is now. God has definitely given me the ability to rest in Him and have peace in trusting in His provision. My family is low-income, I'm paying my own way through college, and we don't have money for a lot of things I'd like us to have money for (like removing my troublesome wisdom teeth). It's been hard, realizing how many loans I have to pay off, health and medical things I'd like addressed and can't pay for, but God has helped me rest in Him and know that He'll provide. It's not my burden. My burden is to trust, do my best, and He'll do the rest. 

-God loves widows, orphans, the poor. He wants to take care of them. How much do you trust that God will care for your needs as well?

I trust Him, totally. Sometimes I still get stressed, worried, a little scared. Because yes, putting your life in someone else's hands can be frightening, terrifying at times, but also incredibly exciting. In those moments of doubt and fear, I just have to go back to the cross and place those burdens back on Him.  

-What does this passage communicate about Jesus?

He cares so much more for the heart, for the thought, for the person we are, than what we do and how we appear. It's not what we've done, it's who we've become.