Mark 12:41-44 - And He [Jesus] 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."

This story interests me more for what it doesn't say than for what it does. Here's a poor woman who comes to give her offering to God. She probably doesn't notice that Jesus is watching. Almost certainly she doesn't know who He is—the Messiah, God come to be a human being, the One who made her and who will save her and who is very much concerned about her. No, all she knows is that she's going to make this offering and then ... what? She has nothing left to live on. And yet, she intends to do it.

This is where I start wondering. Jesus saw and understood the whole situation—so did He do something to help her afterward? For instance, did He tell Judas to provide her with some of the money from the disciples' funding, which he was in charge of? Did He think of something more creative? Or did He let her go on her way, trusting God the Father to care for her?

I wonder about this, because all too often we see people in desperate need, and though we are deeply concerned and want to help, what we are able to do seems ... not good enough. For example, we know that it usually takes more than a one-time gift to set things right for someone who has nothing. Money only lasts so long. It isn't long before they are back in trouble again, through no fault of their own.

And so the temptation is to give up when we see human need—to not do the little thing that we have in our power to do. We may even be tempted to give up on God, thinking that, because we can't make the situation better, God Himself is as limited as we are. We may think He doesn't see, or doesn't care.

But He does. How do we know this? Because of Jesus. When God saw us in desperate need, suffering under the power of evil in a broken world, He didn't turn away from us. He didn't give us a one-time gift to tide us over for a while. No, He came Himself. He came into our mess to be with us, to help and to serve and to love, and ultimately to lay down His life for us, so that all our brokenness and sin could be set right. And because He rose from the dead, never to die again, we know that He is still with us in the mess of our lives—helping us to heal, helping us to care for others even when things look hopeless. Because we know that in the end, with Jesus, nothing is hopeless.

WE PRAY: Lord, I don't understand Your ways, but help me to trust You anyway. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

1. If you had been there, what would you have done?

2. What kinds of need do you see around you? How do you try to help?

3. When you are tempted to give up and despair, how do you find hope in Jesus?

Today's Bible Readings: Jeremiah 43-44    Hebrews 11:20-40

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