One sees the Homeless in a different light
when homelessness becomes a near and real possibility.
Something happened a few days ago
which affected me greatly.
A young man, who couldn't have been any older than twenty,
and I were walking toward each other down a narrow lane.
In order to avoid bumping into each other, one of us was going to have to turn sideways.
Although he made no eye contact with me and appeared not to even see me,
as we neared one another, we both turned a bit sideways to get by each other.
As he passed by, my heart lurched within my chest as tears sprang to my eyes.
I was overcome with emotion as the Lord imparted His love for this young man into my heart.
As it turns out, we ended up in the same line - him standing in front of me.
As I stood behind him, I observed that he was a bit unkempt.
I looked at his clothing which was a bit dirty, but not filthy.
His hair was mussed, but cut relatively short.
As I looked down toward his feet, I saw that he was wearing long shorts
and beyond them were two very dirty calves.
As I continued looking, I noticed that he was wearing a pair of hightop sneakers
but he didn't have them on all the way.
He was stepping on the backs of them with two very dirty, sore feet.
His right heel was severely cracked in two places to the point of bleeding.
His left heel was rimmed with small blisters which had popped and crusted over.
Once again, tears sprang to my eyes.
I began to pray for him and ask the Lord to bless him.
I reached out my hand to touch him, but it was his turn in line.
I then lost track of him.
But he had to come back.
Our paths were to cross once again.
Still no eye contact.
He seemed to have an uncanny ability to appear as if he saw no one
while efficiently accomplishing what he needed to do.
And strangely, no one else appeared to take any notice of him.
Once again I was standing behind him.
I stepped to his left side so that I could study his profile.
I noticed that he had a very tiny tatoo near the outside corner of his eye.
Perhaps a tear drop.
I'm not really sure because it was very faint and very small.
Tears sprang to my eyes again.
This time I whispered my prayers,
hoping that he would turn to see what I was doing.
He didn't.
He waited for his turn, then was once again gone.
As I stood reflecting on this young man
and the emotions within me,
I realized that my family and I could very easily and very soon become that young man.
Homeless.
Sore.
Ignored by society.
Every day is a walk in faith.
Each day is lived with the hope that God will provide.
Each day is one day closer to the possibilty of homelessness.
I have thought about that young man every day since my encounter with him.
With each thought of him, God increases my love toward him.
The Lord has shown me that because I have been obedient to pray for him,
that young man is another step closer to becoming what God intended for him to be.
He is destined for greatness.
He is destined for the Kingdom.
I have asked the Lord that should my situation in life change for the better,
that He would direct me to that young man
so that I may be blessed with helping him in a real and practical way.
Whether I see him again on this earth or not,
I am confident that I will see him in heaven.
Whether we become homeless or not remains to be seen.
But I do know that I will never look at another homeless person
in the same light.
Nor will I ever ignore another homeless person.
Because in doing so, I miss out on the blessing of experiencing God's love for them.
"Do not judge and criticize and condemn others,
so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves."
Matthew 7:1
I believe that if we followed this simple verse, the world would be a different kind of place.
Never-the-less,
I know that I have been changed - for the better.
God is good.
Come what may.
