Letting Love Out

I’ve been in a funk. I haven’t been able to articulate my thoughts to write for the last two weeks but there in my mind as a jumbled mess mixed in with emotions. For the past month, God has shown me my purpose and has answered prayers left and right for me. I’ve felt a fire raging for His will, His plan, His love and ready to go all in.

Then my heart broke.

My eyes were awakened to issues our society faces that are swept under the rug. My heart changed. I was burdened and convicted because of one encounter with a homeless woman named Jacqueline. I can’t even begin to imagine how God feels.

We have all encountered homeless people, some may cuss you when you don’t give them money and some may walk away but have you ever considered that their as much a human being as we are? A child of God? Have you just grabbed them by the shoulders and looked them in the eye and told them that you love them and Jesus loves them even more?

It’s not my place to judge why Jacqueline was homeless and asking for money but it’s my place to make sure she knows Jesus loves her and through Him all things are possible.

Jacqueline said she needed money because she was a diabetic and I know you are thinking that she just wanted money to buy more drugs. That’s probably true but that’s between her and God to work out. If that is the case, then she will remember a crazy girl from Kentucky who talked to her about Jesus.

Now, if you ask my husband he would tell you that he gave her the money because he knew I’d be taking her home with me. Yes, if you know me, you could see me doing this.

She made bad decisions that placed her on that very street, homeless and asking for money. Whether it’s a life she wants and is doing it as a scam or a life that she is chained to because she has lost her hope, isn’t it our job to love them regardless of those decisions? What if I turned my nose up at her like I normally would have like society says to? I wouldn’t have learned that she has two grand babies that she wants to get better so she can see them again. She wouldn’t have heard the words Jesus loves you and all things are possible through Him. Isn’t it better to speak life and show love to someone in need than to judge them, ignore them and walk away? I told Jacqueline that I would continue to pray for her and I know we were on the same street at the same time for a reason. It might be for a seed that was planted in her life or a reminder that God loves her.

The world has a heart problem. There are people who are homeless, struggling with mental illness and addicts. We need to stop being judgmental and start loving these people. Some might say love isn’t enough but it’s at least a step in the right direction and the Bible tells us love covers a multitude of sins and I believe that it can radically change lives.

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8

There is power in saying you believe in someone. It changes someone’s mindset and gives them hope. You can be a shining light pointing the way to Jesus, freedom, and chains being broken.

My dad was a drug addict. He suffered mental illness. My sister is a recovering addict and suffers from mental illness. It could have been them on that street but it wasn’t because somewhere along the way there was someone bold enough to share Jesus with them and give them hope and say, “I love you!”

I choose to give hope in hopeless situations. I choose to show love to those who need it most regardless of their decisions and actions.

Xoxo,

Hannah B.