Kindness of Strangers

God will use the compassion that He has given to us in order to meet needs in His name.  Coming up, on The Meeting House, you will hear a story of a person described as a "good Samaritan."  That 
parable is found in Luke 10 - we find a man beaten and robbed and left by the road. Our Lord teaches:
31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.

The compassion moved him to action. Verse 34 says, "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him." Then the man left money with the innkeeper to further take care of the man. Jesus asked:
36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"
37 And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Jesus says to love our neighbor as ourselves, and this parable was His answer to the question, "Who is my neighbor?"  Two men walked by, the Samaritan stopped - he ministered to the broken man's needs...He demonstrated the mercy of God, which we have been given because we know Christ.  We can be looking for ways to show His mercy, because Jesus has shown mercy to us.  

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We are called to sow seeds of love, life and truth into people's lives, and our Heavenly Father is the one who provides us with those seeds, according to 2nd Corinthians 9, which says:
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

A Texas man named Kenneth Smith was down and out.  He found himself "hungry and homeless," according to a Faithwire article, and was outside a local restaurant and a women asked him if he was OK; he told the woman who asked that he was not. 

The article relates:

“I told her, ‘No, I’m not OK at this time,’” Smith recalled to WFAA-TV, telling the outlet the woman then gave him a $100 gift card to the steakhouse so he could have a warm meal.

After sitting in the booth for a while, Smith struck up a conversation with the restaurant’s managing partner, Laura Hodges. 

Hodges told the TV station, “I said, ‘Hey, I don’t ever want you to want for food or go hungry,’” adding, “I want you to always have somewhere that you can get a warm meal.” She handed Smith her business card and told him to come by "any time."  He began to drop by to eat for five months and asked Hodges for a job - he is currently employed by the steakhouse.

But, in the meantime, he needed a place to live.  Faithwire reports that, "Hodges took to a local Facebook group — the Fort Worth Foodies — to ask if any of the members knew of a nearby motel with affordable nightly rates."  It turns out that group members took care of his hotel stay for six weeks and have given Kenneth over two-thousand dollars!

Smith is quoted as saying, "I think it’s so much of a good blessing," adding, “And it’s wonderful just to have people these days that’ll do things for you.” He apparently recognizes the hand of God in his life, stating, “This is a whole new beginning that God has blessed me with...so I’m trying to get on this right, good track that He wants me to stay on.”

And as Laura Hodges points out, it started with the woman who gave Kenneth a gift card.  She stopped and asked the man if he was OK.  Kenneth said he wasn't.

Does it or perhaps should it occur to us that by saying we're OK when we really aren't prevents a move of God in our lives?  I think there is a human tendency to say we're fine, and we end up missing a blessing for ourselves and denying a blessing to someone who may want to minister to us.

And, we should always be willing to ask the question when we see someone who may be in need - sensitivity is a key, and the openness to respond when we get the answer. That could certainly result in a prayer, but it could also result in an actual step or two in actually meeting the need. Or, perhaps, like to lady who surrendered her gift card, we can take what we have available - what God has given to us and recognize that is the purpose. 

You could say that God had not forgotten about Kenneth Smith - He wanted to do a work in His life.  And, we can remember that the Lord is orchestrating events in our lives.  Maybe you can recollect times in which He has brought the right person or provision in your life - that can strengthen our faith and bring Him glory.