The Homeless: Meeting their Physical Needs is not Enough

There are mixed emotions that well up inside of me when I see a homeless person begging on the side of the street. Usually, my first reaction is sadness and compassion for that person, and I inwardly begin kicking myself for ever having complained about some petty problem or inconvenience in my life. After all, compared to them, I live like a queen! There are times, however, when I see the same person "working" the same corner almost every day that I get annoyed and wonder why they don't just put that same effort into getting a job that would possibly earn them more money and definitely earn them more self-respect.

The bottom line, though, is that they have a soul just like me that needs the Lord, and if I'm not willing to share that with them, then how can I complain about their lack of will-power? The Lord can change people and give them a reason for living.

"The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them." I Samuel 2:7-8

Whenever possible, we have determined to help those people. Since I don't know what they would buy, I refuse to give them money or even store gift cards, but I see no problem with giving them food along with a "plan of salvation" tract.

"If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." Deuteronomy 15:7-8, 10-11

The other day, when we were leaving town to go to my parents' house, we had the truck loaded up with all of our stuff (including some groceries), but we needed to swing by a store on our way to pick up a couple of things. As we approached our turn into the store parking area, we saw a homeless person standing in the median with his sign. Because of traffic and the fact that we were turning, I wasn't able to get something together quickly enough, so I just prayed as we turned that if the Lord would work it out for him to still be there and for the traffic to be clear (since it was a busy road) when we left the store, then we would share something with him. While Jason ran into the store for me, the girls and I set to work getting together what we needed. The only food I had available to eat right at that moment was bananas. I had packed a lot of ingredients to make things, but they weren't prepared yet, so I figured, if he was really hungry, he would enjoy a banana. =)

The Lord did work everything out! When we pulled up to the red light to turn onto the main road, the traffic just seemed to clear, and we were able to go across 3 or 4 lanes of traffic to get to the median, hand the guy his banana and a tract and go back across those 3 or 4 lanes to get into the turn lane for the entrance ramp to the interstate without any vehicles getting in our way! That was indeed a miracle, especially since it was a busy part of Tampa.

The girls giggled when we handed the man the banana and tract. I guess they thought it was funny to see him waving the banana at us and shouting as we drove away, "Thank you, and God bless you!" They may think it to be strange right now, but I hope that as they grow, they will adopt the attitude of love and compassion for those souls just like Jesus had when he was on earth.

"And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things." Mark 6:34