Building a Resume from Wealth or Poverty

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:3-4 NIV
Once in a while after an Event Planner has reviewed my resume or one-sheet, they’ll ask what qualifies me to speak with authority on the Grace of God. To some, my level of education doesn’t offer much by the way of the sought-after alphabet soup next to my name. Why would anyone ever want to listen to me? What do I have to offer?
In a word: Hope.
If God can pull a messed-up life like mine from the gates of Hell, then surely he can work in the lives of others.
It’s quite a simple story. Jesus came to heal the sick and offer grace to those who need it. And I was among the neediest.
God wants us to reach out from our poverty. He offers grace, unmerited favor, to those who seek it. Unmerited, meaning undeserved. That’s the point. It’s not what we have to offer to Him. It’s never been about that. We can never ever earn the right to speak on His behalf.
But we can if He leads us to. If we stand in our humility and sing the praises of God.
God wants us to share from His wealth, not our own. When I speak at retreats or conferences, I share with women from my brokenness. I share that without God’s touch of grace I’d be nothing. Yet He loved me … and He loves them in their brokenness, too.
I give out of my poverty. And in their poverty, they will find wealth.
It’s not so much the messenger. It’s the message. Before Christ, my life was bankrupt of security and peace. Now Jesus has given me both.  And if He can use my poverty to offer wealth to others, then I’m good with that.
What is your resume built on?