What keeps us from reaching out to the poor?
There are many different answers to this question, but most times it is fear.
Fear of the unknown... fear for our safety...
What will they do? What have they done? What will they ask of me?
What will I say? What can I really do to change their situation? I'm just one person and their needs are so many.
These are hefty questions to ponder if we start from fear.
In fear we can do nothing because fear is not from the Lord.
Yet if we start from love - love of Christ - the possibilities are endless.
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear..." (1John 4:18)
Acting in LOVE will have us stepping outside of our comfort zones and doing things we never thought possible in our rational mind.
LOVE will have us walking by faith and not by sight because the sight of things may look pretty grim.
LOVE will have us moving in the Spirit to show others we care regardless of where they are in their lives or where they have been.
LOVE will find us forgetting self and remembering others first.
LOVE will have us standing outside in a park in the blowing snow and freezing wind when we could be home sitting in front of the fire reading a good book.
LOVE will have us taking our valuable time to make soup or sandwiches and cookies for people we don't even know.
LOVE will have us donating our hard-earned money for food to serve to someone who may be addicted to drugs or alcohol or someone who may have been in prison at one time. This someone's present or past doesn't change the fact that Jesus loves them so very much, and that they need to see this in our interaction with them.
Rational? No way. Supernatural? You bet.
So many people have stepped out in LOVE for this ministry on the streets - stepped out from where they are to do seemingly small things with great compassion.
In Christ, you are making a difference - a difference in the lives of those who are often forgotten because of their state in life - a friendly older gentleman living alone in an apartment barely getting by on disability pay, a kind-eyed gentleman living under a bridge, a legally blind woman with the most beautiful smile who will soon be out of the mission and into her own apartment, a young man living in the misson who recently started college classes.
May the peace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ reign in our heart, our mind and on our lips today and always. Amen!
