She Did What She Could Do
Posted on: December 20, 2009 by Diane No Comments
from Diane’s desk…
In the Bible - in the book of Mark - there is a story about a woman pouring expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus. A similar story was told in several other places in the New Testament. Scholars are not sure if it’s the same woman or not, but it doesn’t matter. The fact that a woman gave up something of such value to honor the man she saw as her Savior, is consistent across all of the stories.
But in Mark, Jesus says a phrase that has stuck with me since I read it a couple of weeks ago.
She did what she could.
In the eyes of those around her, this gift seemed a waste of good perfume. Jesus knew differently.
I can envision this woman - a prostitute - meeting Jesus, feeling loved in a way that she had never been before. He saw into her heart, and loved her as a person. Frantically looking around her small room, all she had was a bottle of perfume given to her by a wealthy ‘customer’. She had valued it for a long time. In fact, she saw more value in that bottle of perfume than she saw in her sorry life. Others around her were having him over for dinner, giving him a place to stay. Wine to drink. All she had was this bottle of perfume. She knew what she had to do, and she didn’t care what others would say. She had to show him how much she loved him.
She did what she could.
I so often think that what I do for God, in comparison to others, is so insignificant. It never seems to be enough. I miss so many opportunities to show others the face of God. I fail more often than I care to admit.
Yet, I do what I can do. Each year, I pray I can do a little more, stretch a little deeper, with less fear. More confidence. More faith.
Each day, I have a choice to make. To stop doing because I’ll never measure up to others; because I’ll fail more often than I succeed. Or, I can decide, to ‘do what I can do’. To see what value I can give today, and give it. And then, work on more tomorrow.
I am confident, that God is OK with that.
