Broken and Beautiful

As I walked into Starbucks this morning, I never would've expected what God would show me before I walked out. As I'm sitting there, having my quiet time, this boy that looks about 19 walks in. At first glance, I thought he might've been a hobo and caught myself judging a man I've never met. After looking at him more, I registered the look of defeat he carried with him. His hair was tousled, he wore dirty clothes, and his shoulders were hunched as if he'd just lost a battle. He ordered his coffee and proceeded to slowly walk out the doors when we made eye contact. In that moment, I felt a connection with this unknown man. After I had been convicted of judging, I began praying for him because I knew that he must be fighting a hard battle and I've been there before so wouldn't I want someone to do the same for me? I couldn't take my eyes off this man. He looked so lost, so defeated, so hopeless... God wasn't done. I watched him walk out the doors as if he had somewhere to be and I honestly thought that would be the end. I finished my quiet time and proceeded to leave to meet my friends for lunch. However, God had different plans. When I walked out the doors, I saw the boy sitting on the curb in front of the dumpster. What an odd place to sit when there were plenty of seats, right? I lost control. I walked straight up to him, bent down, and said, "are you ok?" He replied, "Yes, thank you" I couldn't stop, "can I pray for you or anything" he simply wouldn't give "no I'm fine thanks." How can you help someone if they won't let you in? "Ok well I hope you have a great day" I said and walked off. But I could not, no matter what I did, get that tug in my heart to stop. I wasn't in control of my body anymore. I dug through the box in my backseat looking for the bibles my church hands out - I always keep one on hand in case of situations like this. I looked at this bible, got out of my car, and started walking towards the boy again. He looked at me cautiously with eyes that said "this chick is crazy." As I walked directly towards him, still not in control of my body, and bent down to look him in the eye and said "I don't wanna seem like a creep or anything, but if you're looking for hope or something, this will help." He kept looking at me cautiously and said, "ok thanks" and I just stood up and walked back to my car. As I was driving away, I prayed for this broken, defeated, hopeless boy harder than I've prayed for anybody in a long time. God cares for that man, with an unfailing love. If God cares that much about him, it's worth me taking the time to stop and listen... Right? I was able to obey the Holy Spirits prompting once I got past the initial judgement and realized that this boy is fighting battles just like I am. He's had heartbreak, rejection, anger... everything that I've experienced and maybe more. Why should I give up on him when he's obviously struggling? Why should I ignore him just like the rest of the world when I'm so obviously called to be like Jesus? Because it's crazy? Because other people will think I'm weird? Who cares! Jesus tell us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31), yet we're often too busy to stop and help the broken. But when we're hurting, we want somebody to do that for us. Luke 6:31 says "Do to others as you would have them do to you." But when do we honestly do that? We can pray, "God, break our hearts for what breaks yours" but if we don't act when He calls us to, what good does it do? Obedience isn't just giving a bible to a boy sitting on a curb, it's simply saying, "yes" when He says, "go." We're surrounded by cliche sayings that aid us when we "feel like it" but we never really take them to heart. What would happen if we actually did what we preach? If we loved the way we say we do? If we stopped, just five minutes a day, to help someone that needs a little hope? So be encouraged, stop and say a genuine "thank you" to the person behind the counter, love those closest to you and tell them how muchh they mean to you, take the time to help people in need and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Gandhi once said, "be the change you wish to see in the world." Don't follow the flow of traffic. Stop and love.