They would be right. I delighted in Him. Stopping at that moment to give praise to the Son who meets all my needs. The Son who brought me God's love. And I asked. Do I reflect, magnify, and focus God's love to someone who is shivering in the wind with groceries rolling down to the gutter and wind whipping hair into eyes? Do I reflect the love God has shown me with his Son to the person who couldn't buy warm shoes or a coat? Do I magnify the love given to me so that when people come in contact with me, they pause and feel warm? Do I focus God's love by sharing about the God who loved me first?
I can say yes, to some. But! What about those who I believe are a lost cause. What about those who don't "deserve" a "hand-out." What about those who are ungrateful, and very self-centered. What if I know that no matter what I do, the outcome will still be the same. What if that person has repeated the same behavior and I know I will only become part of their mess if I step in? Does God want me to waste my time?
That ray of light. It would have been there if I didn't notice it. It would have warmed the sidewalk or the door of the car. It would shine even without any obvious benefit This is something I struggle to understand. Why? Why waste energy on something that has no clear outcome? I have not found an answer to this in an earthly sense, but I have run across a verse after praying. I shared the verse and my husband "ended up" on the same verse after also praying. As God so often does, He placed His word in our hearts so that we would know His heart and then confirmed it. Being obedient to God is the benefit. Our heart's desire to say, "yes" is all that we really need. If there is an earthly blessing, it is only because we honored Him, reflecting, magnifying, and focusing His love in a world that is cold and frustrating. What would we gain if we do what is right because we can see a need that we have the ability to meet? How much better is it to look to God for the purpose and the outcome, even if we can't see a change right away or even ever? Knowing that we can use it to build our faith and that we are not acting in our own power and authority but trusting Him with every action we take and every result that follows. It is easy to say yes when we know we can help, it is hard to say yes when we know we can't. It is then, that we enter in anyway and trust Him for the reward, for the outcome and for the purpose. Only then, can we really say that the task was from Him and only to Him is the Glory given.
Luke 14:12 -14 Then Jesus said to His host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
