She Did What She Could

 

Earlier this week, I caught up on a Bible podcast I follow. As I listened to the discussion on the passages from Holy Week, I was struck by two women who each make a brief appearance and by Jesus’ response to them. 

     We read of the first woman in Mark 12:41-44. As Jesus sits in the Temple, several wealthy people give generously to the offering. When a poor widow donates two small coins, her offering looks paltry, but Jesus declares that actually she has given more than everyone else. While the others gave a fraction of their abundance, the widow gave all she had. 

     Mark 14:1-9 tells us of the second woman. As Jesus reclines at the dinner table, the woman appears with a jar of expensive perfume, which she breaks, pouring the perfume all over Jesus’ head. Others criticise her, calling it a waste, but Jesus honours the woman for her actions. He recognises that she is anointing him for burial ahead of his death, and he declares, “She did what she could.” (Mark 14:8 NIV) 

     In some ways the women are very different – one clearly wealthy and the other desperately poor – but there are also several similarities. To outsiders, their actions look foolish or pointless, but Jesus praises each of them, seeing the heart behind their actions and understanding their attempts to honour him. 

     They did what they could. 

     You may be asking what all of this has to do with writing. The answer is: nothing directly, but it encouraged me, and I hope it may encourage others. 

     As I come to write this blog post and think back over my writing this month, it seems small and insignificant, just like the widow’s coins. This was meant to be the month where I got it together: where I stuck to a proper blogging schedule, where I made progress on a devotional book I am writing, where I had this blog post scheduled a week in advance instead of scrambling the night before it was due to be posted to find something to write… 

     However, this was also the month where the unexpected absence of a work colleague for three weeks pushed my already packed schedule into overload, where a friend struggling with addiction needed my time and attention, where someone at church reached out looking to participate in a mentoring programme I offer. It’s unsurprising that time for writing was in short supply. 

     Maybe you have months like these too. 

     The podcast reminded me that in those times when we are simply struggling on, doing what we can, God sees and he understands, even when others don’t. 

     It also challenges me to keep doing what I can. It would have been understandable for the widow to keep her two coins to buy some food, but instead she chose to give what she had, all that she had, to be used for God’s glory. 

     May we aim to do the same!

Lesley Crawford blogs at Life In The Spacious Place and contributes regularly at Gracefully Truthful. She has written One Big Story, a Bible curriculum for school groups and contributed to various anthologies, including the ACW anthology, "Merry Christmas, Everyone" and "The Jesse Tree Anthology".