When Worldly Wisdom is Wrong

"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

I love the story of the widow and her offering as described in Mark 12.  Oftentimes this story is used to explain to us how we don't give enough; how we ought to be willing to give all we have instead of a percentage of what we think we should give.  But I took away another lesson from reading this story this week.  That being: the widow did something incredibly right, yet incredibly stupid from a worldly standpoint.  She was being obedient to God, even if it didn't make practical sense.

I can only imagine what would happen if a widow approached me as a lawyer and asked me to give her wise counsel.  Can you imagine how fast her family would go after my license if I recommended that she give all of her income into the church offering plate?  Or better yet, what if I recommended that she give away her husband's life insurance money to a charity?  I'm betting that even Dave Ramsey would think that I'm a terrible person.  And of course, I could never tell someone else to do that from a financially prudent standpoint.  

But when the widow in Mark 12 gave everything away, she was being obedient to God's call on her life.  She was literally giving God all she had and trusting Him for her provision.  Despite doing something that was financially risky, Jesus commended this woman for her faith and obedience to Him.

I was really challenged today.  Have I been obedient to God's call on my life, or am I hesitant to follow His call because it doesn't seem prudent from a worldly standpoint?  Or, have I wrongfully judged another person for doing something risky, when it was their response to God's call on their life?  It's so easy to see life through a worldly lens.  But I've been called to have a renewed and transformed mind in Christ--a mind that isn't constrained by worldly wisdom.