Sitting at a large church in Phoenix years ago I noticed a disheveled man at the end of the pew. He was dressed so poorly and truly smelled. it was obvious he was homeless. Everyone seemed to be avoiding him as they stood and greeted those around him. He stood quietly with his head down. I did not go over either. The service progressed and pastor asked us to go take the hand of someone near us and pray with them. I stood quietly and watched as no one went to this man. The Spirit tugged at my heart to go and I reluctantly approached him. I touched his hand and he never even looked up. As I began to pray for him tears streamed down his face leaving a path from the dirt. I stopped and asked him his need. He said he needed food and to know where his next meal was coming from. We prayed that in the coming week he would not miss a meal and food would come from the strangest places. I wanted to take him home or out to eat, but the Spirit put a check in my spirit and I knew I was just to pray.
The next week he returned and his face was clean, his hair combed and he glanced in my direction. I walked over to him immediately and asked how his week had gone. He said God had heard our prayer he had not missed a meal. I asked was there something else we could pray for. He said yes grabbing my hand, I need a job and a place to live. We prayed that the Lord would direct him that week to a place where he could find rest and enough money to meet his need.
The next week he returned with a smile and looked somehow different. He walked over to me beaming as he told how the Lord had gotten him a job and a place to live. Even I was shocked. Where and how I asked him. He "stayed" near a coin operated laundrymat that was open 24 hours a day so he could have access to running water and a restroom. He would go periodicaly and pick up the trash never thinking about what he did, only thinking that he would somehow pay back the owners of the laundrymat. One day while he was doing this the owner came in and asked if he was the one who had been picking up. He replied yes...so the owner asked him if he would like a very small job. He would pay him ten dollars a day for picking up the trash and watching over the place. He also told him that since he couldn't pay much would he like to set up a cot so he could stay in the storage room at the back. They had been having trouble with people wrecking the place at night because it was unattended. He could clear a place out to sleep if he wanted...that way he could stay there at night and keep an eye on things. We rejoiced together that the Lord had again heard and answered our prayers.
The next week he came with a new suit of clothes on and was clean shaven. He was talking to the man in the pew behind hm when he saw me. He immediately came and greeted me with a hug. I told him how wonderfully well he looked and that there was a joy in him I had not seen before. He practically laughed as he told me that today was a special day...he was being baptized. He had gone and talked to the pastor and received the Lord. We rejoiced together with tears!! That afternoon I watched as he was baptized and I remembered the first Sunday I had seen him. What a change God had made in his life in such a short time.
The next week he brought a friend....his friend wasn't dressed appropriately for church...he really didn't fit in with everyone else... but then neither had Phillip a short month ago.
I don't know what became of him because we left that church to go to another, but I am confident that God knows where he is and is meeting his need. I still remember him sitting at the end of the pew with his head down. I am so thankful that the Lord is our glory and the lifter of our heads. And that I was blessed to see that verse become a reality in Phillip's life. |
