Kind Reward

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. ~ Proverbs 19:17

I will admit, I am not the best at this. Where I live there aren't a lot of poor, but I do know there are plenty of needy that I could be more generous toward.  The world tells us and our flesh longs for more, more, and more for me, myself and I.  I pray on the regular that God would not only help me be more generous in big ways, but open my eyes to the small needs also.  The truth is, it is easier to look the other way and pass judgment on someone then it is to help them, which shatters God’s heart.  I don’t want to break his heart.  I want to bless Him.  There are going to be times when you give and then find out your gift may have been used for something you didn’t intend, but we are not the judge of that, God is.  People need help in all kinds of ways and money isn’t defined in this verse as the only way to be kind to the poor.  In fact, money isn’t even mentioned in this verse, even though it is what most people tend to need, but what about the poor in spirit?  Do you allow interruptions in your daily life if someone needs your time?  Your shirt?  How about just a listening ear, or soft shoulder?  A ride to the dr. appt.?  I have a co-worker moving out of state and she doesn’t have any family here to help her repair her home for sale, or to clean and pack.  She’s been part of this community for 13 years and she can’t seem to find anyone that is willing to help her despite her pleas on social media. I knew what God wanted me to do.  Admittedly, begrudgingly, I offered her my help and she was estatic.  And you know what happened?  That afternoon spent with her and another friend finishing final touches on her home was more of a blessing to me, I believe, than to her.  God blessed my heart as we were able to relieve a little stress for her.  She even laughed over lunch and I hadn’t seen her do that in weeks.  She was just too stressed to even smile, or be excited about her new journey.  May we all learn to open our hearts to kindness to the poor more often.  Whether it’s monetarily poor, or time poor, or help poor.  When we offer our kindness to others, we are offering our kindness to God.  And doesn’t he deserve that?  Look at what his kindness has done for us. ~ Amen