This past Sunday, as I was praying in one of those sorts of prayers that is essentially "thinking in His presence", I was expressing my desires to serve the Lord more and my present state of less than abundant resources. But are we not, I thought, always in a state of lack? Will a day without the urgent ever come? Will a discipleship relationship with a young woman ever just "fall into place"? Will a commitment to pour myself out as an offering ever exist that doesn't call for some kind of sacrifice? Does God only take pleasure in numbers? Is He only impressed when I give Him big things? Surely God calls us to give in our lack, to serve out of our feebleness and last ounce of flour. Negative space will follow us for the rest of our lives. The question is: what will we do with what we have already been given? Of course, sometimes I believe there is a time when we are not to give in some way, to wait in good time and trust in the Lord. But when He tells us to begin pouring from the basin of our lives, our part is to give every last drop for Jesus. Don't spend time calculating your smallness, spend time giving yourself anyway. Do not hoard your pennies, if that is all that you have. May Jesus grant us the grace to give extravagantly out of our barren state.

 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

-Mark 12:41-44