Jesus wants us to care for the poor
There are some poor that will spend all their money
and yours, if you let them
If they waste money and are not good stewards,
they could make us all broke
How do you know if you are enabling people or helping them?
The obvious answer seems that you are helping them if they need it
But still, they could drain as many as would help them
to use all their money and all of yours, too
It is the same idea as an ox falling into a pit
it might be better to help the ox out of the pit rather than to throw them what they really want for the moment, food
And it’s not always as easy as you think to know what to do
that is where seeking the wisdom of God comes in
I received a message this morning that my friend’s daughter wanted to borrow $400 from me to pay her rent
“We usually can handle it but this month, it’s hard”
That was not the truth, she cannot usually handle it
I know from her mother that she asks for money almost every month
An alarm went off in me was that her mother was dry
and had no more funds left,
otherwise the daughter would not be asking me
I struggled with this greatly
I know that Proverbs says: Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor,
he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. Proverbs 21:13
I know Jesus tells us to give to those who ask us
Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee
turn not thou away. Matthew 5:42
I struggled with the way this girl spends her money
and then wants her mom or as was the case, now, me,
to pick up her irresponsibility
I sought the Lord
I asked for wisdom
I prayed and I listened
I had to wait and listen and trust that He would give me the right answer
Please do not think that this is the answer to everything
This is a reminder that we must petition the Lord for wisdom
because many things will come our way
that will bring about our questions
and we always need wisdom from God Almighty,
some of them can be quite complex,
but Jesus always has the answer
I finally got what I felt was wisdom from God and I wrote her:
I am very concerned that your mom has no more money to give you
I know you have enough money every month to pay your rent
and that has to come first,
I can help you to organize your finances
so that you can get them in order
She did not take me up on my offer, in fact,
she unfriended me on the social platform instead
That was not the answer she wanted to hear,
but it was the best answer I had
I am not sure how the Lord would have asked me to help her
as time went on, but I was available to God in a way that I felt good about
I do not know if we will someday be like the church in Acts
where everyone put their resources together and share with each other
Maybe we will
I did not say I would not help her,
I left that in God’s hands to show me to know what to do as time went on
It seems she was offended
and she probably won’t seek the help I was offering after all
We will stand before our righteous judge
I was not sure what was going to happen when I asked for wisdom
or what the Lord was going to ask me to do
I was just trying to live the word the best way I knew how
and to hear from God the best way to handle the situation
Onward…