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| Homeless |
Then peter said silver and gold I do not have, but
what I do have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ. Acts 3:6
How to deal with Homeless people
Raise
your hand if you have come upon a homeless person asking for money, food, or
some far fetched plea. According to National Alliance to end Homelessness[i], on any given night, in America more than 750,000 people are
homeless. Over the course of a year, an additional 2.5 million will temporarily
live either on the streets or in emergency shelters. Though many
panhandlers could be swindlers attempting to con another victim, I have learned
to remove self judgment and base my response on how the Holy Spirit leads me
regarding their request.
A Lesson from a homeless person
Recently,
at a stop light, I witnessed a woman who appeared to be homeless based on tattered
clothes, unclean appearance, and sores covering her face and hands. Making her way to each vehicle, it appeared no
one supplied any donations. Me being the next car in the long procession, I
lowered my window and before she could utter a word, “I don’t have anything” blurted
from my mouth. Realizing in hindsight,
unlike previous encounters I responded before being asked. To my dismay this woman had a prophetic
comeback to my quick witted answer; “yes, you do have something to give the
power of prayer!”
Driving
off dumbfound, the story of a lame man at the beautiful came to mind, Acts 3:1-9 where Peter told the man
money he had not but he did have Jesus. I
also recalled Paul’s charge to the Romans to behave like Christians by letting
love be without hypocrisy, be kind to others with brotherly love and
steadfastly pray Thes 5:12-18. I’ve heard sermons and read these
aforementioned stories on many occasions with intent to implement in a way to
bless someone along my journey. My brief
visit was a prime opportunity to put words into action, yet I missed my cue to empower
or pray for this lady. I allowed my carnal mind to lead me astray.
The Power of prayer
For
days, “you have the power of prayer” lingered in my mind and raised questions. Are
my prayers self-centered? Do I pray enough for the indigent as well as others? Is
praying effective? Just as too many ask
is their praying in vain? No of course not! Prayer does change things. Prayer
is powerful; it can alter situations affecting an individual to world changing issues. Prayer, no matter how small once it reaches
God it does not fall on death ear it will manifest, especially when people
learn to touch and agree together through prayer, when two or three come
together in His name he is among them Matt.
18:20.
I charge you to try God [again] through prayer
not asking for things that can rust or corrupt but be like Solomon ask for
wisdom to discern between good and evil, I
Kings 3:9 pray for others well being, ask for a forgiving spirit, filled with joy, peace, and love. For many claim to be Christ like yet when
given opportunities such as mine they also fail. During our life journey we all will stumble
upon more situations of: homeless people, co-workers, strangers, or family
members partitioning for help in spite the fact money you have not. Remember to
give them what you do have in the name of Jesus. As for
the unfortunate lady, I watched through my rear
view mirror as she made her way along the road seeking other benevolent givers.
As space separated us, I could hear her last directive: “pray for me and others too because we all
need prayer.”
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