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The Increase of God in our Finances. We see from the statements of Jesus that our wealth is for Kingdom purposes, we are not to worry about the temporary but to work towards the eternal. This last thought was brought on by the story of the widow’s mite. As a widow myself, I thought about this story and the contrast of this widow and Jesus and wrote down some thoughts to share. It is lengthy but I promise, you will be glad you spent some time to consider what is said:
“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”” Luke 21:1-4 NKJV
“She gave all she had. What she had could do little for her, but giving it to her God was a simple act of her faith. This widow had nothing to lose but everything to gain. Her two mites weren’t going to take care of her need. She was poor, but somewhere in all the sorrow and harshness of her life, she wasn’t holding on to what she had but placed it all in Gods hands.
Faith was in her giving; not in what would come back. She wasn’t gambling on the odds. She was trusting the one who could change her life.
“The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.” Psalms 145:15-16, 18 NKJV
When we open our hearts to give it is the beginning of a life of simple faith. A life that expects nothing in return and trusts in the Lord’s great ability to take care of you. This simple faith knows and trusts in His great love and His absolute desire to meet every need we will ever have. Like this widow we are not gambling on the odds of God helping us out of obligation, but simply opening up what’s in our lives to put it into His hands. Fully realizing that what we trust to Him will be more than enough.
That is why faith works by love. Our giving is a faith response to this great love. It is not my human effort or disciplined obedience to perform Gods law, nor is it God’s corresponding duty to bless. It is not merely a work and wage proposition but it is love that brings life and power to our faith and comes through our day to day living.
Faith that simply trusts begins in the simple small things of life’s monotonous days. I believe it grows in the heart to be convinced God will take care of us in the overwhelming situations that life can throw at us. She is a widow. Her covering, provider, protector is gone. She is trusting her Creator to take what’s in her hand as she gives it to Him. Somewhere she realized the two mites in her hands could not meet her needs, so she exchanged hands. In Gods hands her future provision was secure. When we walk with trust and confidence in the one who holds our eternity securely in His hands, it seems a natural understanding to know “If I can trust Him with my forever, how could I not trust him with my now?”
If the Lord is so generous to me, how can I not respond with generosity to others, my church and His work. Giving is as much a part of my new life with Him as breathing is to my natural state. It is my natural ability to breathe as I live on the earth, even so, in the new birth and new creation reality, it is my supernatural ability to give and to bless.
This widow going to the temple, gave her heart and means to the Lord. He knew her, He stopped His disciples to bring her giving to their attention and use as a life lesson for us. The temple was busy, many coming and going and the treasury was seen by any and all who cared to notice. The Lord clearly sees and states that the two mites (in today’s currency it would be less than one cent!) was the greater gift.
He then compares her gift of almost no monetary value to the far greater amounts given into the treasury that day. In human judgement, one penny verses thousands of dollars would seem insignificant and go completely unnoticed, but the God of all creation pauses in His busy schedule, after all, it will be just days, before He gives the ultimate gift to the sons and daughters of Adam, to teach us a lesson that could change our life.
She gives everything she has, the others give from their abundance. The God who made everything is about to give everything, not out of a position of poverty as this poor widow who has nothing but two mites, but out of His immeasurable riches He is about to give it all. The only two people the Bible says gave everything they had are at the temple that day. One has nothing and gives it all. The other owns everything visible and invisible and is about to lay it all down.
The lesson in this observation is the heart of the giver is far greater than the amount given.
To give all of you is where the giving of finances begins. It’s not the amount, it’s the character of the heart. This widow had nothing but poverty. No husband to protect and provide. She was alone to fend for herself. She chose to go to the temple and release to God all she had. It got His attention. It gets mine. Far easier to give what is expected and out of your abundance than to give all you have out of your poverty.
The kingdom of heaven begins with a poor spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It is the threshold that holds the door open to Gods endless riches and blessings. But to enter, we must first become poor and give it all to Him.
The heart that realizes without God, we have no life, love or future is the beginning of a poor spirit. The poor in spirit, like the widow, realizes apart from God, we have nothing. He holds our breath and eternity in His hands. To begin to trust Him with our money is an act of faith, not the contract of work and pay, but the giving up of our lives in love to the one who gave us life.
Giving from the heart is simply a natural response of faith. If he gave everything for me it shows me how to live on earth for Him. Giving to His Kingdom through my finances is simply and expression of my heart responding to His great love. If He is generous, I want to lean how to be generous. If he holds my eternity, it is a simple evolution to understand He holds my todays. If I can trust him with my forever, how absolutely certain it is that I can trust Him with my now.
He gives me now from his inexhaustible riches, but first He gave it all so I could live. Like the widow, her from her poverty, he from his riches, I must begin this new journey by giving Him me. From there, giving becomes like breathing, how could I not give back to the one who gave me his all.
It isn’t complicated, it’s simple faith. If I trust him with my eternity, I can trust him with my Todays. Giving finances from my heart is simple. I want to. I get to. It is my love and my faith responding to His love and generosity.”
Our giving is a matter of the heart.
