Give from our poverty

Yesterday I was meditating on the gospel reading about the widow who gave two coins at the temple (should we really be surprised that a woman's two cents is worth infinitely more then whatever a man ultimately contributes ;-) 

 

He said, "I tell you truly,

this poor widow put in more than all the rest;

for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,

but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."

(Luke 21:3-4)

When hearing this reading I typically am focused on the fact that the poor widow trusted God with everything she had. Yesterday however the words, "from her poverty" spoke to me. She didn't only give everything. She gave from her poverty; her weakness, her inadequacy, her imperfect state.

I often ask myself if I am giving everything to God, but in the back of my head I'm usually thinking that some parts of me or things I posses aren't good enough to give Him. I feel I need to improve or make them better and that I'm not yet worthy enough. God doesn't just long for us to give Him the good in us though. He wants us to give from our poverty wherever that means we are at today. If it's only two pennies, it doesn't matter. He will multiply what we give Him and make our gift fruitful.

It's easy to sometimes think that when we give to God, we are adding to the goodness and power He has. We might express this as the following equation ...

o (our gift) + g (God's power) = v (end value)

But the truth is it is a multiplication expression rather then addition. Something more like this...

o (our gift) / a (all we have) * g (God's power) = v (end value)

That is how the widow's pennies are more valuable then the gifts the rich were putting in. We can never add to or improve the goodness of God. Instead He multiplies the percentage we give Him. The question is, how much of His light will we allow to shine through our life?

So what are the things I'm holding back from giving God because I don't think they are good enough for him? What part of my life am I not allowing Him to shine through? Where is my poverty? Am I willing to lay my vulnerability before the king? Do I trust that it is enough like the widow? Jesus wants our weakness...all of it.