Barry and I decided we wanted to spend our 20 dollars by taking a
homeless person out to breakfast, maybe get him or her some supplies
that he or she needed and hopefully have a chance to share the love of
Jesus Christ.We drove around and met a lady living on the
street named Candy. She was more than glad to get something to eat and
it was obvious that she needed more than food in her stomach. After
making a trip to Wal-Mart we were able to sustain her immediate needs
with blankets and toiletries. The part about sharing Jesus’ love didn’t
exactly go according to plan.One thing we both agreed on is
that homeless people are very prideful. Candy was no exception. All she
really wanted was to eat breakfast alone yet we really wanted to have a
legitimate conversation with her. We were able to tell her that Jesus
loves her no matter what which she was grateful for but that was about
the extent of the conversation.I don’t know who got more out
of this experience, Candy or us. After leaving it got us thinking, does
our pride get in the way of letting Jesus talk to us and let him help
us? All He wants to do is have a conversation with us and let him be
who we come to when we are in need but I don’t think we always let Him,
because we want to do it on our own. I think Jesus wanted to show us
more of Him through this experience than His love to her.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I mention Movement and want to know, then follow the link here.
Ever since I wrote that twenty dollar check and popped it in the mail, I’ve been watching the NAU Movement blog and waiting to see what stories crop up. A student named Hunter wrote the following that has started me thinking:
Even at this point in my relationship with God, I still have tons of these moments where I think I can do things on my own and refuse to talk to God about it… when He knows everything that could possibly be known and then some about every situation I walk into! And this next year, I’m certain I will run into situations where God wants to teach me something as much as or more than Him wanting the person I’m talking to to have a chance to hear about His love.
There’s a WR promo video that has recently been posted, and every time I watch it, I come back to the WR director (Michael Hindes) talking about how this is, in part, about my transformation. I think this story from Hunter illustrates the point clearly – that as we seek to live out God’s calling on our lives to bring transformation to the world, we’re going to be transformed, too. Sometimes, we’re the ones who need to see something as much as or more than the person God asks us to minister to. And that something we see… in changing us, it does change the world.
The further I get into this relationship with God, the more I realize it’s the littlest and simplest of things that can change things as much as or more than the big things. Moreover, if we’re not willing to commit to the little things, how is God going to trust us with the bigger picture in regards to transformation?
Just a few thoughts…
And if you haven’t taken the time to watch the promo video and want to, it’s on my homepage here. Just go there, and you’ll be able to watch it.
