When the God Kind of Love Provokes You to Respond

I was jogging along Wilshire Boulevard near Beverly Hills when a man got my attention by crying, “Lady, do you have a dollar?” I turned to look at him, apologizing that I didn’t have any money with me. But the God kind love took a snapshot of the man.

As I continued to run, an overwhelming sense of compassion engulfed me. I began to shake. The look of sadness in that man’s eyes kept flashing in my mind, over and over.

After arriving home and showering, I knew I had to return to the Boulevard to find that man. The God kind of love was tugging at my heart. Not only did I feel impressed to give him some money, but I would also tell him the finger of God, so to speak, was pointing at him because God wasn’t going to let me rest until I responded to the man’s need.

The Kind of Love is Persistent

At first, I didn’t see him as I drove up and down Wilshire Boulevard. Then, I spotted him sitting at a bus stop with his head down. He looked so utterly hopeless, sad, and defeated.

As I locked my car and began to walk in his direction, a bus stopped, and he got on. I took a moment to be still and listen to my inner self. If ever I was sure of anything, I knew I was supposed to follow the bus to connect with the man when he got off. 

Each time the bus stopped, I waited expectantly to see if he would get off. At one point, thoughts went through my mind of how utterly foolish it was to follow a bus to God knows where to rendezvous with a total stranger who might be . . . a serial killer. 

But the God kind of love compelled me and overrode my thoughts.

At last, when the bus stopped at the intersection of 7th and Hope Streets in downtown Los Angeles, the man got off. I quickly pulled over to the curb behind the bus and honked to get his attention. He bent down to peer at me through the windshield, looking somewhat perplexed. Nevertheless, he waited for me to park and leave the car.

Showing Unconditional Love

As we stood face to face, the God kind of love took over.

I told this sad man the Lord sent me after him. I handed him a $20 bill. You would have thought I had given him a million dollars.

He looked at me and said, “Lord, have mercy!” I told him that was indeed right. I told him he was a treasure to God.

About this time, he reached out to hug me with tears streaming down his face. We were hugging like long-lost relatives in the middle of the street.

God expanded my horizons that day. He gave me a glimpse beyond the limits of my objective reasoning into the dimension of the God kind of love.

God’s love is intensely practical. It is always searching, probing, and reaching out to spend itself on someone. His love is democratic because it will spend itself on anyone, regardless of socio-economic status, age, race, or sex. It is radical because it will go to any length to touch someone with His grace.

Have you had an experience of stepping out of your comfort zone to help someone where you wound up being the one profoundly blessed?

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