There are those who prey on the emotions and compassionate
hearts of total strangers. There are also those who genuinely pray for God to
send someone to help them…and I believe God answers.
Throughout days of exploring New York City, I saw countless
individuals on the sidewalks and subways who displayed an advertisement of
their plight, panhandled for their pups, mechanically repeated a ‘bad luck’
list of events leading up to that moment, and there were others. Some of them may have chosen to live on the streets...perfectly content with that lifestyle. And then, there were others who would have never chosen homelessness… but which
ones? It is impossible to help every single person that has the appearance of homelessness or need, yet the heart yearns to ease the suffering of others.
Off and on all during the week, I caught myself wondering,
“How do you know who to help?” I know that God’s desire is for us to be His
hands and feet. We are called to be stewards of what He has given, and to give.
However, we are not called to sponsor the slothful or service sin, nor should
we enable a lifestyle that does not magnify God.
Sometimes, it was easy to discern the ones who were there to
“make a living” at it. Sometimes, it was easy to see that what someone was
asking for was not what was needed.
Then, there were the times when I questioned my judgement. Sometimes, I wondered if I had “missed the
mark”, not helping the ones who were truly in need.
God knew my heart…it
sometimes cried out, “Who?”
One evening, my daughters and I stopped in at a famous
hotdog restaurant and ordered dinner. As I stood waiting on the total, the Holy
Spirit whispered to my heart, “Pay for the next person.” At that moment, there
was no “next person”. I reached in my
purse to pay the gruff cashier.
At the same moment, an elderly lady with a walker came up
and stood beside me. She reached out to hand the cashier a one-dollar bill
while stating, “The boy outside is hungry. I want to buy him a hotdog.”
“Hotdogs are two dollars,” said the frowning cashier as he
walked away.
My heart leaped. God never ceases to amaze me. I had heard
the clear instruction of the Holy Spirit, so handed the lady another dollar.
“The nice lady just gave me a dollar. I want to buy a
hotdog!” she called out to the cashier. Then, she thanked me. In my opinion, she
deserved the thanks.
During some quiet moments later that evening, I could not
help but reflect on the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and the affirmation of
His leading. It filled me with such joy
to know that God would speak to me in a still, small voice in preparation to
answer my question, “Who?”.
As I sat there, once again, I heard the Holy Spirit softly
speak to my heart, “Help those who help others.”
I had not really focused on the details of the event, but I
certainly remembered what the elderly lady had said. She had sought to help the
boy outside of the restaurant. I know that God will bless her generosity with
an overflow…the Bible describes it in Luke 6:38:
“Give, and it shall be given unto you;
good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men
give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be
measured to you again.”
Today, I can’t remember what the elderly lady looked like. I
don’t know where she lives. I don’t know her name…but I do know who she is. She is one of those…those who who help others. She is who God put in my path to teach me
something about how He answers questions, as well as the prayers of others.
Be blessed, In Jesus' Name,
Angie
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