Even the sun has to fall, in order to rise again.
(Picture by Lisa R.)

Today as I was driving home from Fort Lauderdale, I saw a gentleman sitting on the sidewalk across the street from me. I was stopped at a light. He was homeless, he was sitting in dirty clothes with his head held down. He must have felt me looking at him because he glanced up, and what I saw broke my heart, he looked so sad and so lonely. I wanted to stop my car and find out what had happened, but I was not in a position to do that. People were walking pass him like he didn’t exist, like he was invisible. As I looked through my rear-view and watch people pass him by with no thought or concern at all, I wondered at his life. I wondered at the circumstances that got him there. Not much in life separates me (or you) from that man. Yet we are filled with self-importance dismissing his existence as we wrongly assume he has nothing to offer. Today I wish I had the opportunity to find out about him, I wish that I had turned my car around and sought him out, I wish I had taken the time to let him know, that even though he is sitting on the side of the road dejected and alone, he still mattered. He still has a part to play, a role and purpose that is intrinsically his. Money, fame, stuff does not determine self-importance or self-worth. Neither does a house, a car, or a job. At some point we will die and leave those thing behind. Today is first time in a long time I regretted an action. Because although my heart didn’t feel it, my actions (not stopping) said that I believed him to be unimportant. If God grants me another opportunity, I will turn my car around. But for now I will pray for his safety, and that the God of comfort and grace will hold his heart and heal his hurt.  

“A Father of the fatherless and a Judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity.” (Psalm 68:5-6).

So what am I thankful for today? That God understands my heart, even when my actions don’t display what I feel.