The Widow's Offering

They say, "If you need something done, find someone who's busy."

When God needs something done, he chooses a poor person.

The prophet Elijah could not have found a poorer, more desperate person than the widow gathering sticks outside the gates of Zarephath. She was down to her last morsels and was resigned to the fact that she and her son would soon starve to death. The story of her generosity to the prophet despite her own need has fed the faith of countless believers throughout the millenia and has inspired them to generosity even in the face of destitution.

Jesus likewise chose a poor widow as an example of giving in faith. In sharp contrast to the religious leaders whose fine garments covered over their spiritual nakedness, she abandoned all she had to God. She could have held onto those pennies thinking they'd be of no use. She could have looked at the religious leaders in their finery and thought that she needed the money much more than they did. Her generosity, instead, was an act of faith that God would provide for her if she would abandon everything she had into his hands. The story of her generosity now enshrined in the gospels has done immeasurably more good down the centuries than millions of shekels donated to the temple treasury could ever have.

It is an enduring truth of God's plan that he chooses the weak. If God has a plan for us - and he certainly does - we can be sure that it does not involve what we perceive our talents and strengths to be. If we think we are good speakers, he may ask us to be silent. If we think we are good organizers, he may call us to suffer under the chaos of a scatterbrained leader. Most likely, God is going to ask of us something we think we are totally incapable of doing or giving, something outside our "skill set".

This was the experience of every great saint. At some time in their lives they felt the frustration of wanting to do something great for God but being called to do something else. He led them to a ministry they thought was less important or that they felt ill-equipped to undertake. Yet they obeyed and drew on his strength to bring to fruition his great design, a plan much bolder and more effective than anything they could have otherwise mustered. God does all this to make it clear that it is his plan that works, not ours, and that it is his grace that proves effective, not our own gifts and talents.

The best advice I ever got from a spiritual director is that God is in the real, not the ideal. We may dream of doing great things for God, but he most often calls us to do small things with great love. He is calling us to take out the trash, pick up dog poo or coach a soccer team with great love. If we think we're not good at it or capable of it, we may find ourselves called to it nonetheless.

God can only use the poor because they have nothing to lose. They are the freest to give. If we want God to use us, then we must give out of our weakness and need.