Food, water, and shelter are three things that most everyone takes for granted, especially in America. When we see a homeless person on the street, a lot of people scoff and think to themselves that that person should just go get a job...but they don't even know that person's story. They may be an injured veteran, someone who has lost their family, or someone who is living face-to-face with the Devil and they can't seem to find their way out.
So there I am, sitting at the stop light in my 2005 Toyota Camry that my parents so graciously bought for me, with a full tank of gas that doesn't break my bank account to get. And I'm just like you. I see the homeless person and try to avoid eye contact so I don't feel compelled to give them the couple dollars I have in my wallet that I don't even need.
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Why is it that God has blessed me more than he has other people if he loves us all equally? Why is it that although divorced, I have two parents still living while other people lost one or both of their parents at a young age? I have a huge closet packed full of clothes, and I make enough money with my part time job to go out and buy more clothes whenever I want because I'm in college and my parents are paying all of my bills to get me through. I have a ton of pairs of shoes and I can throw them out and get a new pair when I need to, while other people have had the same shoes for 3 years and they have holes all over them. Why is it that when I get hungry I can walk to the pantry or refrigerator and get something to eat while there are children in this world who are lucky just to be able to eat even once a day?
I don't know why God has blessed me with all these things. I have met so many people that have lost so many loved ones and have struggled financially, with their faith, or with their health all throughout their life. Someone might hand $5 to that homeless man on the street, and he sees that as a huge blessing because he gets to eat that night. And I don't mean he gets to go to a restaurant or get a home cooked meal, but he might be able to go to McDonald's and order a few things off of the dollar menu.
The people who have lost the most and struggled the most in their lives are some of the greatest people in the world. They are the ones that count their blessings, while people who have everything complain about the small things like when a store doesn't have their size in a shirt they like, when they should realize that they're blessed just to have the money to buy a new shirt. Or getting upset when their order gets messed up at a restaurant while there's people on the street who haven't eaten in days.
For all of you that know your blessed, start to think about that more. Realize that every single thing you have, every opportunity you get, every morsel of food on your plate, is a blessing from God. Be more generous and stop being so hateful to people who aren't as fortunate as you.
I pray every night before I fall asleep, and every night in that prayer I thank God for my blessings and I ask him to guide me in using my blessings to bless others. I know when he answers this because he will lay something heavy on my heart and that leads me to help people out. A couple weeks ago, I gave $20 to a homeless bathroom attendant. My friend was in shock that I gave this woman that much money, but the thing is, God randomly blessed me with an extra $20 that week and the idea of giving it to her struck my mind and it wouldn't leave. I didn't need it and I knew God was telling me to give it to her because she needed it more than I did. She needed a blessing, no matter how small, and you should have seen the look on her face when I gave it to her. She was so excited and even did a little dance as she placed it in her tip jar. She couldn't stop smiling the rest of the night. I don't know which one was more of a blessing: the $20 for her, or how happy I saw that it made her. That made it all worth it to me. For $20 I received a priceless blessing in return of seeing what a little surprise and kindness can do for someone.
I challenge everyone reading this to go out of their way and do something to bless someone else. I'm not saying you have to go out and give someone money, but that is always a great blessing to give to someone. You could donate some old clothes, or help someone carry their groceries, or bring a meal to someone out on the street. Pray to God that he will lay things heavy on your heart so he can bless other people through you, and the pay-off of that will be so rewarding.
Pay it forward.
