Homeless

Today I was listening to Phil Collins’ song “Another day in paradise.” It is an eye opener for how many times I have ignored a needy person on the street. (In a country like India, we have so many beggars roaming the streets, we really don’t know who is a genuine or not.) It is a song about a poor lady who has been crying with blisters on her feet and can barely walk. She looks like a person who has been moved from place to place because she doesn’t fit anywhere. She cries out to the man walking on the street. She says, “Sir, can you help me? It’s cold and I’ve nowhere to sleep.” The song goes on to say that he ignores her cry and walks on. He even pretends to be deaf. He starts to whistle and crosses the street; it almost seems like he was embarrassed to have been there. Phil Collins says in his refrain, “for you and me it’s another day in paradise!”

It is amazing how callous and indifferent I sometimes become to the needs of the poor. I find myself looking at a magazine with the most heartrending pictures of poverty and starvation and just turn the page as if I have a mind block!! There are times when I look at it and then sigh with sympathy and say a prayer for God’s continued support and strength. What have I done after the sighs and prayers?? Today the media reports about even controversies on how money are used by some NGO’s to support the fancy lifestyles of their owners. How do we hold them accountable? We need to pray for the continued work and ministry of all God’s people. When we are unable to help the greatest service we can do is to become a powerhouse of prayer for those who are out there in the mission field who are the hands and feet of the Body of Christ today. They are the ones who are out there are under great stress and even take their lives at risk.

The other day my cousin sent me a picture of an African child and a vulture. The shocking picture depicted the vulture waiting for the starving child to die. This picture supposedly won a Pulitzers award, for depicting the 1994 Sudan Famine. The photographer Kevin Carter, who took the picture was so depressed he committed suicide 3 months later. In real life aren’t some of us like vultures, waiting for the fall of some innocent person so that we can glean off or laugh at or mock at their broken life? When was the last time I spoke to a homeless person? Is there somebody out there I can reach who cries their heart out and feels that no one is listening? It is when we come to God in prayer that the Holy Spirit guides us to do God’s will. 2Chronicles 16:9 says, “The eyes of the Lord roam through out the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are loyal to Him.” The Lord strengthens us when we pray to Him. We rest assured in the confidence that God is working and will lead us to those who are in need of our assistance.

We lead such happy and comfortable lives without realizing how fortunate we are to have a roof over our heads. To be able to read this posting, we have to have access to the internet and other luxuries. We should thank God for His blessings – God has been so good to us. When we are discouraged we find our confidence in Jesus Christ. As for me, I look to the LORD for his help. "Therefore I will look confidently to the LORD; I will wait for God to save me: my God will hear me( Micah 7:7)." We begin to pray for God to save and protect all who are in need. It is through prayer, praise and thanksgiving that we find comfort in the knowledge that God will hear and provide us with all our needs.