Yesterday, Miguel and I spend several hours, and several trips, trying to buy a grill....that's a story for another time. As we were waiting for an employee to load our grill, an older woman approached the store. She had no teeth, scraggly hair, and a large purse over her shoulder. Instead of walking into the store, she headed for the ash tray bins. I though to myself that she must want a quick smoke break before heading in to buy construction materials. However, instead of pulling a cigarette out of her purse, she began to pick half-smoked butts out of the ash trays. She fingered through them, making sure she found "good" ones. I quickly alerted Miguel to this gross misconduct and snickered under my breath. "How disgusting. What a sad addict she must be." As we pulled away, Miguel suggested that perhaps she wasn't an addict but merely too poor to buy cigarettes. At that though, I was convicted. I had judged this woman because of her "sub-human" conduct, but didn't even think to offer to buy her a pack of cigarettes. I do not condone the habit, yet I could have met this woman's needs in a very practical way. Instead, I sat judging and laughing.
Today, as I shared the story with my sister, she relayed a similar story she'd heard on the radio. A man felt called to reach a desperately poor neighborhood in Philly. He knocked on a woman's door and was greeted by a cigarette and a naked baby. He quickly defended his visit by saying he wanted to share Jesus. She shut the door on him. Convicted by the Holy Spirit, he went back with a carton of cigarettes and some diapers. Nothing earth-shattering or super-spiritual. But he was able to meet the woman's physical needs and ended up meeting her spiritual needs as well. Incredible.
Needless to say, I often view people from a merely human standpoint. I do not think of their spiritual needs. Yesterday, I could have served that woman, and perhaps been given a divine opportunity to serve her spiritually as well. My point-of-view drastically needs to be altered. What opportunities is God providing for you to meet the practical (and spiritual) needs of others?
2 comments:
Great point, Lib. I'm excited about being able to help out our neighbor with her pregnancy. Since being home with the boys I've been able to get to know 3 sets of neighbors better. Our one neighbor has had 6 miscarriages and is currently pregnant with a girl. She's past her normal miscarriage stage, so I've been praying all will go well with this pregnancy. I hope to help her out by providing meals, etc. like so many people were kind enough to do for me. Maybe we'll have a chance to talk about spiritual things too, eventually.
Chad and I prayed about Chad joining a pub group with other Christian men. This wouldn't typically be something that would be normal - going to bars, essentially, trying to reach the lost. As we prayed for this decision, we felt at peace knowing that Christ will use these Christian men to speak the gospel in...yes, well a bar. It was actually an easy decision for us. We are called as Christians to bring the word of the Lord to the lost and that absolutely means stepping outside of your comfort zone.
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