"She Did What She Could"

A dear friend sent me this today....and it really touched my heart.  Amidst the busyness of life and the busy season we are living I often feel guilt.  Am I doing "enough" for God?  I know I am busy busy around the house but...here comes Momma guilt right?  I have had tugs about serving, and what I should be doing to serve God.  Am I doing enough for Him?  I have dear friends just home from Visiting Orphans, Drew and Jack have specifically mentioned missions trips before...can I do it all?  Some of my dear friends have sent a few emails have really convicted me....not in a bad way but in a thoughtful way...it is late and I am beginning to ramble.  But I wanted to share this with you...it's long but it's WELL worth reading, and thinking.  

I love that Jesus just wants us to do what we can....I need to rest in that tonight.   

"She Did What She Could"
Elisa Morgan, President Emerita and Former CEO, Mothers of
Pre-Schoolers International

Most of us care.

We care about our families.

We care about our children.

We care about kids.

We care about their parents and grandparents.

But, honestly, there is so much to do on a given day, we think, What
can we possibly do to make a difference?  There's not enough of us to
go around.  We think we have to do everything.  We think we have to something new to
make a difference.  So lots of times, we don't do anything.  We just
stop.

My Board has challenged me to come up with new strategies to reach the
Millennial generation.  How could I make a difference?  A passage from
Scripture slammed me into a permanent paradigm shift.

Mark 14:1-8

This is God's Word.

The Passover was only two days away.  The religious power structure
were trying to figure a way to get rid of Jesus.  A woman brought
expensive perfume to Jesus.  Jesus rebuked all of those who would
criticize this woman for lavishing him with this perfume.  This
woman's act would be told in memory of her.

How many times have I read this passage?!  I had never seen five words:

SHE DID WHAT SHE COULD.

These words grabbed me.

SHE did what she could.  God chose a girl!  He sat her at the Lord's
feet.  Mary of Bethany!  God chose a girl for a story which would last
for all time.  The Gospel is for both genders.  All of God's Word is
for men AND women.  God taught through men in Scripture.  Sometimes,
God uses women to make His point.  SHE did what she could.

She DID what she could.  Mary got up and made a contribution in the
moment.  She understood the anointing of Jesus' body.   She DID what
she could.

She did WHAT she could.  This was nard. It was expensive.  Aromatic.
The Channel No. 5 of her day.  These are Jesus' words.  She did WHAT
she could.   In such a way, her gift was incredibly important.

She did what SHE could.  She gave from the context of her relationship
with God.  Mary was a sinner at His feet.  She had taken up His
teaching.  Giving to Him in this moment underlined Mary's
understanding of what he had done for her.  Mary gave from the context
of her relationship to Jesus.  She let Him love her.  She did what SHE
could.

She did what she COULD.  She grabbed and invested in that minute.  She
did so publicly.  She declared who Jesus was in this very public act.
She gave the first evangelistic sermon, even though she used no words.
 She acted.  She was ridiculed.  Judas picked up the first spear of
criticism.  His response freed the rest of the room to hurl their own
accusations.  Jesus told them to leave her alone.  He understood the
amount of money invested in this perfume.  The investment was not
wasted.  Mary chose the moment, and Jesus honored her gesture as a
beautiful thing.  Isn't living love out in action the very meaning of
the Gospel?!  For God so loved the world that he gave his own begotten
Son. . . .  She did what she COULD.

So, now, what?

What if I did what I could?!  How can we serve others?  Do we make
mental plans (intentions) and not follow through?  If we don't do what
we can, we feel guilty.

I wall-papered our first 700-square-foot home.
Matchy-matchy-matchy-match!  Our neighbors had a different way of
decorating.  They loved their children.  The people had no respect for
the watering regulations; they ran their water 24/7.  Puddles in the
street!  Incredibly irresponsible!  Janet came over one day.  I tried
to avoid her.  I couldn't.  She asked me to go to a marriage retreat.
She had gone through the yellow pages.  They had started going to
church, and they gave their lives to Jesus Christ.  She wondered if I
wanted to know Jesus, too.  My husband and I were in full-time
Christian ministry!  I hadn't done what I could!!

Why do we get in God's way sometimes?  Think of a time when you
didn't do what you could.  What held you back?  A lack of time?
Insecurity?  Fear?  Didn't want to get involved?  All of the above?
Answer that.   

What if I just did what I could TODAY?  I might apologize to a
co-worker.  I might agree to babysit my son's 104-pound Rottweiler.  I
might go back to school.  I might implement the findings of those
leadership and personality tests.   What if I did what I could?

One morning, I read an e-mail rant.  EVERYTHING IN CAPS.  I read it.
The woman was upset with her daughter, and she didn't have anyone to talk
to about it.  I asked if she wanted to do coffee.  I listened.  I
didn't invite her daughter to live with me.  I just listened.  I did
what I could.

I like to listen to my grandson sleeping.  One night, I couldn't hear
him sleeping.  He seemed kind of stiff.  I felt him.  I was nervous.
He shot up and started talking to me.  His tummy hurt.  He wondered if
I could lie down with him.  I had meetings all day the next day!  I
couldn't afford it!  But God didn't ask me to sleep with him all night
-- only to lie down with him.  I did what I could do.

What if someone else has a better idea than mine?  Do I accept it?  I
do what I can.  What if I could cut out of work early to invest in the
life of another person?  Can I give honest feedback to a problem
employee?  Can I step down from my role in the organization?  Can I
collaborate, rather than compete.

When is a time that you did when you could?  What happened as a
result?  God does something.

What if YOU did what you could?

Some of you think you are disqualified.  That's one of the enemy's
greatest lies.  Our failures can actually qualify us to speak into
areas that we did not know or understand before.  What if every day we
did what we could?

You + me = we!  We discover we can do more together!

I think of my friends Rick and Debbie.  I always got a wreath every
Christmas from them.  Then one Christmas I got a card which indicated
that the equivalent amount for that wreath benefited a poor woman in
India, so they were making the donation in my name.  What about the teacher who asks her children to choose a cause
to serve others in the world.  We don't have to have the exact
theological believes to feed the hungry or clothe the naked.  What
could we do together if each one of us did what we could?

What if I did what I could?  What if you did what you could?  What if
we did what we could?

SHE DID WHAT SHE COULD.