this past monday my squad had a discipleship day. we heard a sermon about healing and just how much Jesus wants us to pray for the sick. we went out to a park near our home. people had prayed on the bus ride for the Lord to give us some people to talk to. i didn’t feel like the Lord was laying any specific person on my heart to talk to. so, i hesitantly followed the group as we walked up to the park. it was raining so that lead us under an amphitheater where there were 4 homeless men sitting. we all just kind of stood there for awhile before our leader kevin, decided that some of our group should talk to the homeless men. A group sat down to talk and pray with 3 of them. the 4th, jose, came over and started talking to the smaller group of people i was standing with. jose was funny. he joked around a lot and tried really really hard to communicate with us even though our spanish was so bad. the joy of the lord was so evident in jose. he literally didn’t have anything but he was so grateful to just talk to us. we got to pray for him and then he walked around to talk to more people.
later on, people had spread out and gone around the park to pray for other people. one of the homeless men, kept smiling giving me and 2 other girls a thumbs up.
within those moments, the lord really showed me his heart for these men. i almost felt helpless because i felt like there was not much i could do to help them. 2 other girls from my squad and i decided to just go and sit with the homeless men because there was simply nothing else we could do. one of them was paulino and the other jonathan. we started talking to them and they kept telling us how they feel like they are lower than other people, and that they have no value in society. as i sat there, i had no idea what to say simply because i could not relate to these men at all. my heart was breaking as they told us that they were just there waiting to die. i realized that the Lord was letting me see these men they way he does. he was breaking my heart for what breaks his. his heart hurts more than mine does for these men. He simply just wants their hearts. he wants to know these men as much as he wants to know anyone!
and all we were doing was sitting with them. i honestly don’t know the last time that someone had talked to them. a smile never left their faces as we sat there, in almost an intimidating silence.
I think something Jesus has been teaching me is that every single person we encounter he desires. he desires their hearts, their completely human hearts that stray far from him. HE IS JEALOUS FOR US. i don’t think i really grasped that until recently. in a world where we are so distracted by other things, a relationship with the Lord is not always our top priority. though it should be, we often fall short of that. BUT he still chases us down. his grace is a constant flow. it never ever ever will cease. we dont deserve any ounce of it, BUT he gives it so generously so that he can be with us. and thats something that i’m still trying to wrap my head around everyday. and i don’t think i will ever be able to wrap my head around just how GOOD he is, but I will stand in awe, day after day because of his incomprehensible love, that so relentlessly chases us down.
