A Whisper

“…He watched…”

Mark 12:41 (CSB)

Ugh! Holiday traffic! (No, it’s not a Christmas blog).

“Me first!” attitudes and hostile behavior intensify.

Sitting across from the temple treasury,

 he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury.

Many rich people were putting in large sums.

Mark 12:41 (CSB)

My daughter Sarah and I were shopping for last-minute items five days before Christmas. We thought traffic would be bad, but it was worse than we expected.

We had been waiting for a long line of cars to enter the roadway. It seemed longer because the two nearest drivers were on their cell phones. They both missed opportunities to keep the line moving.

Finally, we reached the front of the line, but cars were backed up as far as we could see.

Then, a kind driver waved Sarah into the lane. As she turned in, I smiled back and whispered, “Thank you!”

W H I S P E R

My daughter suddenly giggled and said, “You do it too!” Sarah told me that she whispers “thank you” when polite drivers let her in traffic.

“Why do we do that? Why not just say thank you out loud?” We both had a good laugh over our oddity.

Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little.  

Mark 12:42 (CSB)

Then my clever daughter made a heartfelt remark. “You know God hears us like that. God hears our quietest ‘Thank Yous’.”

Needless to say, this mom’s heart whispered a quiet thank you. There’s nothing like knowing your children know.

God hears our quietest ‘Thank Yous’

Sarah is right. There are many people all over the world who love God so much. They acknowledge His kindness and grace with simple, quiet “thank yous” every single day.

Sometimes their thank-you’s are in whispered words.

Often, they are simply the overflow of a full heart.

Sometimes they say thank you through quiet deeds of kindness to others.

There are many personal and quiet ways to thank our Savior with our lives.

Jesus saw her with His earthly eyes.

A lovely short reminder is a thank-you that Jesus saw with His earthly eyes.

The woman who gave her quiet praise was completely unaware that He saw her. And He loved the heart that gave it.

Summoning his disciples, he said to them, 

“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. For they all gave out of their surplus, 

but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had —all she had to live on.”

Mark 12:43-44 (CSB)

Jesus wasn’t blessed by the money she gave; He valued her faith. Her belief that God would care for her during hard times was her way of saying, “Thank You, Lord.” She trusted Him, and God accepted her gratitude with loving care.

Of course, there are times when our thanksgiving is out loud and is useful to give our testimony voice.

But there is something special about quietly giving thanks to God. These thank-yous are just between you and Him.

What a mystery and a blessing that God is glorified in such a small way.

Don’t you want Jesus to hear the quiet thank-you’s from your own heart?

May we always glorify Him through acts of obedience and servant hearts.

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.