My husband and I had an interesting conversation as we rolled up to a busy intersection in OKC that almost always has beggars holding signs.
D: Well, I gave $20 to a lady the other day in the movie theater parking lot who needed gas. She had just had some kind of car repair but didn't have any money left for gas.
Me: Oh no! Was this lady black, well dressed?
D: Yes.
Me: Was she headed back to Tulsa?
D: Yes.
Me: No way! I got the same story from her this winter in a parking lot off Blvd.! She was wearing boots and it was snowing, I remember.
D: Seriously?
Me: Yes. And I gave her a $20 too, because it was all I had left in my wallet.
D: Unbelievable.
Me: Did she hug you, and act like that was the best thing that ever happened to her?
D: Oh yeah.
Me: We've been had.
But we didn't feel bad about it. Will it affect the next time someone approaches us with a story, needing money? Maybe. Maybe I will make sure I have a $1 bill stashed for the occasion next time. Maybe I will have them follow me to a gas station. But God doesn't ask us to judge the person or their situation. He just asks us to give.
Luke 6: 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
5 comments:
Amen. I could learn a lesson from this. It isn't always our place to judge whether or not a person is truly in a desperate situation. Just to share what we have.
I had 3 juice boxes that I gave to a guy standing at the corner of Penn and Memorial the other day about 4:30 pm. He seemed grateful and not upset that I didn't give him money. I didn't have a lot of cash on me at the time.
I believe I've given to the same lady at Olive Garden... I figured I was blessed enough to go out to eat but then I think I only gave her spare change...we don't carry cash!
What a great reminder. I use to give a few dollars here and there to those standing off of PEnn and then I would see them later in a nice store, dressed very nice drinking a latte. Hard to not be frustrated, but you are very right that God asks us to give not to judge.
The same thing happened to us last year at Harkins theater too! Same story and everything.
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