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Topic: hope (03/29/04)
TITLE: God said "Homeless not Hopeless By Spencer McDonald 03/30/04 |
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As always, my day is racing a million miles a minute. My light turns green and I motor on past this beaten image of a man. My selfish mind doesn’t give a second thought to this down and out person. After all, I have a home, clothing, shoes, food, and a $32,000 car. And anyway, “It’s just one more pathetic homeless man with a sign that reads: Jesus love you – Family in need, won’t you help?”
Later, on my way home from my urgent travels, this man is still standing at that freeway exit. The rain has come and gone; now he is soaked. Still he holds steadfast and tight to his only personal possession of value. It's his cardboard sign that reads: “Jesus loves you -- Family in need, wont you help?”
This time my heart starts to tug at me and big crocodile tears form in the corners of my eyes. I really felt sorry for the plight of this man standing soaked and alone at that freeway exit. I wondered: why had he given up? Did he not have faith in himself and hope in his heart?
My mind had become absorbed by the image of this homeless man. All day long, crystal clear images of that tattered man in torn jeans, a ragged sweatshirt, shoes that had no soles, and every once of his 150 pound body drenched at the side of that freeway exit tugged at my heart. The image of his persistence at holding up his only billboard of success that read: “Jesus love you – Family in need, won’t you help?” burned heavily into my conscious thoughts all day long.
As I prepared for bed, I knelt down to pray. Here is what I prayed:
Heavenly Father
You have given me so much in my life to be proud of. Lord I am confused about why one of God's children, like this homeless man, would be made to suffer and lose all hope for life. Heavenly Father, a pray that you will help me to understand this plight of hopelessness. I pray that you touch the freeway man's life with hope and happiness. I pray that you will touch my knowledge with the answer to why a man is made to lose his hope.
Amen!
It seemed like no time and I was sound asleep. Most nights I slept without remembering any dreams. When I woke from these nights, it was as if I had gone blank all night long. My dreams were alive and vivid on this night.
God was active answering my prayers. He showed me the snap shot image of this man standing drenched at that freeway exit holding his sign. God spoke and said to me that his cardboard sign held the answer I was seeking.
God’s voice boomed down at me, “Look my child. Read the sign again. What does it say?”
I answered, “Jesus love you – Family in need, won’t you help?”
Then I heard God’s voice ring clearly in my ear again, “You see my child, this man has hope. He says it right in the words written on his sign. Those words: Jesus love you are quite clear. They say hope has not been lost. The truth is, this humbled man has faith that believing in Jesus will empower him with the hope he needs to provide for his family, even if it means standing at a freeway exit to make it happen.”
At 6:15 the next morning my alarm clock blared right on schedule. When I jumped out of bed my entire soul felt refreshed. God had come in a dream and answered my pray of “Why has a man lost hope?” God put it back on me that I was the one who had lost hope that Jesus is the way and the light. The tattered and torn man at that freeway exit was wiser than I been. Surely it was God’s purpose to put him there at that time for my own learning experience.
The spirit of the new day was compelling me to visit this homeless man right at his freeway exit. Without a second thought, I jumped into my car and drove down to his place of employment, that freeway off ramp, and told him an amazing story of my lost hope. I brought coffee, donuts, and two folding chairs and just sat and visited. We talked about many things for a long hour, then I thanked him for helping me to have hope in Jesus again just as he had had and promised to be back the next morning just to talk some more.
At a freeway exit I found a man with hope. Even in the midst of a depressing time this man may have been homeless, but he was surely not hopeless. In a prayer I found the real meaning of hope. Then at a freeway exit I found a friend.