Elder O. Vincent Haleck's General Conference talk, The Heart of the Widow, focussed on the story of the widow's mites. He said that, just as the widow "cast in all that she had" (Mark 12:44), many saints faithfully do the same. Many Latter-Day Saints, especially first generation converts, make great sacrifices as members of the church. Many have lost friendships over joining the church. All have sacrificed time to be faithful members of it. God and His church ask a lot of people, sometimes even asking people to give their whole lives for the church. It takes a great deal of faith to believe that these sacrifices will be worthwhile.
When the widow cast in her two mites, she "cast in all that she had, even all her living." That is an enormous and faith-testing sacrifice. People need money to buy food and pay rent. It is very, very difficult to survive without money. So when the widow cast in "all that she had," she was basically betting her life that the blessings she hoped to receive from her sacrifice would be worth potentially paying the ultimate price. She put "all her living" into that offering, trusting that the blessings she'd receive for doing so would either keep her alive or be worth dying for.
That must have taken a tremendous amount of faith. That's an amount of faith I'm not sure I would have in her situation. I have some faith, and I trust the Lord, but I'm not sure I trust Him that much.
Well, maybe I do. I at least trust that heaven is better than Earth and that giving one's life to the Lord is practically a sure-fire way to get to heaven, so giving one's life to the Lord is almost certainly a step up for the person who does it, but that doesn't make taking that step much easier. It's hard to make that kind of sacrifice. It's tough to sacrifice that much. Many people can't bring themselves to do it. I'm reminded of the rich young ruler who was told by Jesus to sell all that he had and give it to the poor. The scriptures don't tell us whether the rich young man did that, but I'm not sure I would. I want to follow the Lord, but to give up everything for Him, or at least every thing for Him, is a lot to ask. I'm not certain that I'd be willing to make the same kind of sacrifice that widow and many other saints have made.
I applaud the saints that have made such sacrifices, and I admire the faith with which they did so, but I don't think I have the same kind of faith that they do, and I'm not sure if I'm willing to follow their example.
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