I Can Do Anything But THAT...

"And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.  And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” - Mark 12:41-44

While attending Focus on the Family Institute during my college days, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to a Guatemalan orphanage.  While we were there, I heard the testimony of the man who started it, and the power of it never left me.  He had been a pastor for eleven years, had six beautiful adopted children, and life was comfortable.  But God wasn't done with him yet. 

He went on a short mission trip to Guatemala City and while there, God brought him to his knees.  Every morning, he would take walks and see thousands of children living on the streets.  He was moved to tears, and when he came home and shared his broken heart with his wife, she had one question:  "When are we moving to Guatemala?" 

They sold everything they had and piled their five children in a pickup truck with 2000 dollars to their name and drove to Guatemala.  It was there that they started Casa Para Niños Aleluya and began an orphanage that would rescue children from the streets. 

That, my friends, is sacrifice.  He was willing to give up everything to follow the call of God. 

You and I might look at that story and think that something like that could never happen in our own lives.  However, today I ask if you would be WILLING to do that if God called you to do so.

If your answer is NO, what is holding you back?  I know for me, I love where we live.  It is a great school district with an excellent special needs program for my girls.  We have a church that we have attended for over a decade and the people there are family to us.  We have a lifestyle that mostly allows us to buy what we need when we need it.  I would be lying to say that I would be whole-heartedly willing to give all of that up if God called us to do so.  Frankly, even the thought of that terrifies me. 

Then I read about the poor woman who gave everything she had.  She probably had no idea where her next meal would come from, but she had these two coins and wanted to give out of faith.  She could have used those two coins to do many things, but she felt called to give them that day, and she did. 

This week, I pray that you read this story of the woman who gave two coins and let it speak to you.  So many lessons can be learned from this story.  Let God speak to you as you do some soul-searching about what you would be willing to do if God called you.  Are you willing to give it all?

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