Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: BACK TO BASICS (02/16/17)
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TITLE: Heart Trumps Bubble | Previous Challenge Entry
By Pamela Hill
02/20/17 -
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Knowing how many children will starve to death in the world today overwhelms me. Too much information, even about the town I live in, makes me feel like I’m sinking. That’s one reason I don’t have television.
My world consists of a job, home (both are on the same property), and the street that I live on.
On my street, I have low-income retirement apartments, a church with a school, apartments owned by a slumlord and inhabited by people making poor choices involving drugs, alcohol, and life partners (which end up being temporary roommates), along with a few single family residences and a small neighborhood park. Smack in the middle of all of this is a Homeless Shelter, or, as I call it; home.
My neighborhood has enough challenges for this little pea brain to handle.
So it’s not surprising that, when a limping van with broken out windows, duct tape repairs, and an obviously challenged person decided to park in front of my house, I felt like my bubble had been invaded.
As he struggled to anchor a blue tarp over the back window using two mismatched boots placed on the roof, it became obvious; he was planning on staying for more than just a visit. When he stumbled across the street to some bushes to relieve himself I was done being a casual observer and jumped into action.
The police informed me they already had calls reporting the issue. They said it wasn’t considered an emergency and they would send someone out to investigate when they could.
The next day when I called they told me someone had been there and talked to him that morning.
Days went by, any attempt to talk to him was met with a string of random words, most of which are considered unacceptable by respectable society. The clients from the shelter said they felt unsafe because he approached and tried to engage them as they left and returned to the property.
At the four-day mark, he began pounding on doors in the neighborhood asking for someone to jump his dead vehicle. On that particular call to the police, I was informed that if his vehicle doesn’t move for six days they can tow it. Only two more days and we can be rid of him?
The next morning, day five, as I left my house for work I noticed a police vehicle pull up and park in front of the van. The man was nowhere to be seen and his things were strewn all over the sidewalk and street as usual. I asked her about the six-day rule and she confirmed it. Then she added, “I see it was tagged yesterday, so we can tow it in five more days.” I was fuming inside as I walked next door to work.
First order of the day was to teach a Bible Study. I was praying the opening prayer, when, as only He can do, God showed me my heart. “How can you say you love Me when you don’t love the least of these?” He asked.
Suddenly I saw myself through God’s eyes as I went door to door on my street asking all of the neighbors not to give him a jump so that we could get rid of him at the six-day mark. I saw myself through the police officer’s eyes as I argued with her that it wasn’t through our neglect that the vehicle had only been tagged the day before and not the first day we called.
And I broke.
With tears of repentance, I confessed before the bible study group that I had never allowed myself to have the heart of Jesus concerning this man. I had never prayed for him. I had no compassion for him. I just wanted him out of my bubble.
And they broke.
We prayed for him instead of having our usual study. We prayed for ourselves and asked for the Lord’s forgiveness. We prayed that God would cover the situation and provide a perfect plan for this man as only He can. We thanked God that He was possibly giving us a do-over, because now it was only day two according to the police. We hoped to get it right this time as we, together as a group, went back to our first love.
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