When God Opens the Eyes of Your Heart to the Hurting
But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” Matthew 8:20
Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Colossians 3:1-2 MSG
It’s funny how God can turn an ordinary day into something meaningful in a matter of minutes.
That’s exactly what He did today at 1:00.
As I approached the ramp to head back to Mandeville, I locked eyes with a man who was obviously homeless. He sat with his wife, dejected and heavyhearted, on a rugged old set of suitcases.
In just a glimpse their faces told their story.
I imagined how they had gotten there. He lost his job, his home and his confidence. There was nowhere for them to turn.
How could they move on from this?
What would become of them?
When he heard my car pulling closer, he glanced up eyes wide with hope. As I drove by his body language screamed, don’t leave us here. His shoulders collapsed and his faced hung down as if all hope was wrapped up in my stopping.
Wisdom told me, I couldn’t stop.
Yet my heart hurt for this couple. While my car was still moving past them, I prayed.
Lord, take them where they need to go. Help them Lord. Whatever they need, provide it for them.
Nine hours later, Im still thinking of that precious couple.
Open the Eyes of My Heart
Living in South Louisiana, it is very common for us to see homeless people. Our family has always had a heart for them and have provided backpacks for the them during the holidays. Every year I have played a part in getting the backpacks together, but in the brief moment of looking into these people’s eyes, I knew this year would be different. It was no longer just an initiative to help people, although that makes me feel good inside.
No, this year I want to see them experience Christ.
I want them to see the One Who’s Hand keeps on giving.
As we celebrate Christmas, our hearts seek to beat for what touches the heart of God. Thinking about His heart for the homeless, I realized Jesus could relate to them.
He too was homeless.
When He was born, there was nowhere for Him to be taken in. Even as an adult He admits He has no home to go to. He wants to care for those who are broken and hurting. In His infinite wisdom, He chooses to use us, imperfect humans who have our own hurts, to bring His message of hope to a wounded world. This Christmas, I am challenged to keep my eyes open.
Open to those whose picture of the love of Christ, will be through me.
Practical Tips to Open the Eyes of Our Hearts:
Pray
The greatest gift we can give Christ for His birthday, is the love that He’s already given us. Ask God what we can do to show His love to others that are hurting.
Prepare
What part can we play? There are tons of different organizations that you can be a part of to help out those who are in need. We believe the local church is the hope of the world. Teaming up with your local church is one of the most effective ways to help in your community. Find out what initiatives your church is doing this Christmas.
Act
A practical way we help is through backpacks for the homeless. We go to The Dollar Tree to buy all of our supplies, we bake cookies with the kids and they write letters and prayers to place in the backpacks. If this is something that you are interested in you can check out the links below.
The Portland Rescue Mission has great ideas of what to put in the backpacks.
The Homeless Shelter Directory provides local homeless shelters where you can take the backpacks (After selecting your state, you have to scroll down to select your city):
Prayer
Lord I pray for everyone out there who has nowhere to lay their heads. God I pray for a supernatural breakthrough for them. Provide them with everything they need. God show us what we can do to help them. Keep our eyes open to those who need to see You through us this Christmas. In Jesus’ name, Amen.