If you live long enough, you discover there’s much truth behind the well-known saying, ‘Life is like a cactus- prickly yet beautiful’. Behind the backdrop of this beautiful lakefront scene are stories of pain, loss and brokenness. Lives that may have seen better days. Possibly held captive by their own vices or unseen forces that torment their minds, leaving them a shell of their former selves. Whatever their stories, you can’t help but wonder what twist or turn caused them to fall off the edge. What pushed them over?
Thanksgiving day, I joined a group of wonderful individuals who found some time to reach out to this part of the community with warm meals and water. This beautiful lakefront area seem to house these faces that come with their own chronicles of adversity and misfortune. They were very open to being prayed for. It is said that when you find yourself at your lowest, lost in an abyss of hopelessness- the only way out is to look up. I don’t know their hearts, but I imagine somewhere deep down there is a cry for help from God.
I found the day fulfilling but had to ask God if He heard our prayers. Did my standing in the gap matter at all? I have had the opportunity in my profession in the past to interact with the homeless community through different projects. The streets have a way of robbing many of every ounce of fight they have. Some have chosen to ‘check out’ in many ways after losing a series of battles. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ story. One wonders what lies behind those sad eyes. What’s the source of their pain? Was there no one to catch them before the fall? Who paces the floor at nights wondering where they are? Who still believes for them?
In the spirit of the season, gratitude overwhelmed when I laid my head down to sleep that night. There go I, but for the grace of God. We live in a world filled with much of God’s beauty. We see it in nature. The sounds of the ocean, the breathtaking landscapes of our islands, the lights that dance across the pitch black skies, at night, the music made from the pitter patter of raindrops, and the echoes of children laughing. All around, everywhere – if we pause for a minute the magnificence of God’s creation can be seen. Amidst this beauty, however, the reality of pain and suffering presents itself. We see it in the eyes, hear it in the apartment next-door, or sense it in the person who spews hatred and toxicity. In the prison houses, under our nation’s bridges and subways, lakefronts and shopping malls, and sadly sometimes in our own families.
Broken people – fractured, damaged and fragmented by life. The wounds are often so raw that they unknowingly bleed on those who try to help. How do we reconcile the two? Beauty and pain. The truth is we can’t ‘fix’ people. Many of us have tried. We can, however, make a difference. Be God’s hand of love extended. At the lakefront a beautiful young lady , who I’ll call Rose, commented: ” God sent you like an angel to remind me”. May our lives be compasses pointing to the one true healer – Jesus. He delights in fixing and using broken situations and people.
May we be reminders of His grace and goodness. Jesus commented, ” The poor you’ll always have with you” ( Mark 14:7). Maybe we can’t reach everyone, but let it begin with those God placed in our spaces. And yes, sometimes we have may to traverse a lakefront park or go under the bridges to find them. When we do – may our lives be reminders of the love and goodness of God. Oftentimes, we are the only Bible they may have read. Like Rose, may they see, hear and feel God’s love flowing through us. Today, we choose to be conduits of amazing love and grace of God. A reminder that God still pursues his creation with a stubborn love.
“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward them for what they have done.” ( Proverbs 19:17)
***Thanks for reading – Be a reminder of the good that’s around today.
Restored Hearts 