We enjoy watching people who are skilled at what they do. We marvel at how an expert craftsman or artist can bring an intricate design to life. We thrill at the performance of an acrobat who can make complex flips and maneuvers look effortless. We applaud the smooth and precise playing of a musician. We lose ourselves in the tale of a favorite author or story teller. The feats of a businessman who can see opportunities where no one else does amaze us.
When we look at such people it is sometimes hard not to feel envy or a sense of wistfulness. “If only I had his talent; if only I had her brains, just think of the things I could do!”
Of course, much of our envy is misplaced. No one who is highly proficient at what they do, got where they are without a great deal of persistence and hard work. While we would like the recognition and acclaim those whom we admire receive, we are unwilling to put in the long, hard hours of practice and effort they did in order to develop the skills and talents they have.
But sometimes we also experience another feeling when we observe those who are more skilled or more advanced than we are. We feel inadequate. We feel that since we can never reach the same level of performance as someone else, our efforts are of no use at all. We have nothing to contribute. We are a failure.
Fortunately, God does not view things as we do. Once when Jesus was at the Temple in Jerusalem, He observed the people as they gave their offerings. Many rich people came and gave fabulous sums of money. There was also a destitute widow who came and gave two, tiny coins. In an objective sense, the widow gave very little. The coins were worth almost nothing. Of what value was her offering in comparison to the vast amount of gold and silver donated by others? Yet Jesus said that the widow gave more than all the others.
Why would Jesus say such a thing? Because the rich people gave a small fraction of their extra money. In contrast, the widow gave everything she had. (You can read the story for yourself in Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4.)
You see, how much we have is not what is important. What is important is what we do with what we have. In comparison to the world’s standards, or in comparison to someone else, we might not be very intelligent, we might not have much talent, we might not be very strong, we might not be very creative, we might not have much money. But God does not ask us to be as talented and accomplished as someone else. What He does ask of us is that we be willing to serve Him with whatever we do have. The Apostle Paul writes, “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” (2 Corinthians 8:12 NIV)
If we are willing to serve God with whatever we have, that is all He requires. We have no need to feel inadequate or inferior to anyone else regardless of how little we have to offer.