Helping God's Children

“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling

for food to eat-for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

-Psalm 127:2

                It’s amazing how God protects and provides for those who love him. Although someone might be homeless, if they love God He still provides for them as they need. Some people blame God for them becoming homeless but they don’t realize that God will protect them and it is possibly part of His will, so that they may have a testimony. Why blame God after every tear if you don’t thank Him after every smile? It’s like in Deuteronomy when God sent the Israelites into the wilderness. He put them through hardships but protected them. He kept the clothes on their back for forty years. He disciplined them so that they may never forget Him.

“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you

with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach

you that man does not live on bread alone but on

every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

-Deuteronomy 8:3

                God sends His children into the lives of his followers who are in need. He guides us to help one another, allowing us to show His love and love one another so that we remain whole as the body of Christ. We also must remember that if we help someone in need, we are helping the Lord. We don’t know the situations that led them to where they are. If we give to one of His, we are giving to him. He blesses us for this. In Matthew 25:31-45 Christ says that the blessed gave him food when he was hungry, a drink when he was thirsty, clothed him when he needed clothes, gave him a place to stay when he was homeless and visited him while he was in prison. The righteous will not know how they did this. Then Christ says:

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of

these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

-Matthew 25:40

                Those who did not help anyone were sent to the lake of fire. He wants us to have giving hearts so that we can help spread his grace, word, and love. We can remind others of the Lord just by our actions. We cannot know who exactly believes in the Lord but it will surprise you how many actually do and were just put in certain circumstances that led them to the lowly state that they are at.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with

confidence, so that we may receive

mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

-Hebrews 4:16

"A generous person will prosper;whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." 

-Proverbs 11:25

                Yesterday, a friend of my father, whom I call Uncle Max, shared an experience with me that he had in the morning. He went to McDonalds for breakfast and he saw a hitchhiker approaching. He looked tired and weary.  He only ordered a coffee so Uncle Max gave him ten dollars and said, “My friend, eat something solid and God bless you.” The man looked at him strange in the eyes and said, “Thank you, and you too.” Uncle Max went back to his truck and waited for him so he could give him a Bible tract he had printed out, but decided to go back inside and see him since he was taking a long time. When he got back inside the hitchhiker was seated at a table ready to eat a sandwich and in front of him was a Bible open to Deuteronomy. God used him to feed one of His children!

                Back in September, I had a similar experience. My college has a food stand out front during the warmer months so we can enjoy food outside. Normally, I don’t buy food from outside but this one day I decided to go ahead and see what they had out front. A homeless woman, looking tired and wearing clothes too large for her, approached the man who was selling the food. She asked if she could have free food because she was hungry. He refused 3 times and so she was about to leave. As she turned her back I said, “Hold on, I’ll get you some food. Choose whatever you want and I will pay for it.” Just as I was about to say, Jesus loves you, God bless, she looked at me with wide eyes and a smile broke across her face. She gave me a long, hard hug and said, “Thank you so much, you just did what Jesus would do!” At first she was afraid that she offended me by hugging me but I told her that it touched my heart that I could help her and that she was so appreciative. I was buying her the food so that I could witness to her about Christ but instead God used me to provide food for one of His children!

                So, the next time you see someone looking for a few bucks or something to eat, don’t judge them. Open your heart to them. They are one of God’s children and they might not have experienced compassion or mercy in such a long time. What they need at this low point in their lives is to know that someone cares and to know that God is there for them, ready to get them out of that situation. It’s God’s will that they are in your presence at that very moment and it’s his will that you happened to plan the day as it did. If you got stuck in traffic or left work early for lunch you wouldn’t have seen this person. If you decided to go somewhere else to eat or skip lunch altogether, you wouldn’t have seen this person.  It warms my heart every time I hear a story about someone helping one of God’s children and it touches me every time I get to help one of His. You can feel that joy too in doing God’s works if you just open your heart and give to Him.