We Christians are called to be the answers to all the problems in the world, and this was proved when a Christian man helped a homeless man who had prayed for a hot meal.
John Brantley was leaving Best Buy when he saw a man going through the garbage can outside the store. The man was desperately digging for leftover foods in the garbage can for several minutes, pulling out fast food bags, and searching for leftovers.
He wrote via Love What Matters, “He would find a few fries in one bag and a bite or two of a hamburger in another bag. You could see the hamburger wrapper by his knee where he was placing the food items he’d found.”
The homeless man didn’t pester customers entering and leaving the store, and also didn’t ask for money or food, but he kept digging through the trash every time. “After he went through the entire trash can, he neatly cleaned up the area and wrapped up the food he found in the dirty hamburger wrapper. My heart hurt for him.” John wrote.
Then he added, “I am not someone who just hands out money or even helps homeless people because so many are not truly homeless. I guess I’ve never seen someone actually go through a garbage can to try to find food to eat.” He was so deeply moved that he knew he had to help him. So he got out of his car and asked the man if he could help him buy something to eat.
They went to a fast food place nearby and John ordered him the biggest meal on the menu because he said he “would appreciate anything.” John narrated, “The only request he gave me for his order was a big glass of sweet tea to go with his meal.”
He also told John that his name was Steve and he’d been homeless ever since his sister died last September. He was trying to get off the streets but it was so hard. John showed him the love of God and told him God that loved him and that he would pray for him. “He told me again how much he appreciated the meal.”
After that John drove away with heaviness in his heart, he knew he had to go the extra mile for the man. So he swung back around. And when he came back, he saw that Steve had been finishing up his meal and was about to bike away.
“I pulled up beside him and asked him if there was any way I could help him. He told me not really. He never asked me for money. I asked him if I could buy him a few meals and put it on a gift card for him. He told me that it would be so kind. I drove to McDonald’s, bought him some meals, and gave him a gift card,” John recounted.
“He told me he prayed for me today! I wasn’t sure what he meant. I was assuming he was praying for me for what I did for him, so I thanked him. He said, ‘No, you don’t understand. I prayed God would send someone to buy me a hot meal today…and he sent you!’ I didn’t know what to say…I was speechless! Praying for a hot meal wasn’t a prayer I had prayed today!”
When Steve told him he actually had cancer, John was moved to tears. He said, “Tears began to fill my eyes. Oh my…how blessed am I… He said, ‘You see, I have cancer!’ He pulled up his shirt and pointed to a huge mass that was poking out from his stomach.” Then he continued, “He said he knew it wouldn’t be much longer. I asked him if he knew Jesus. He told me he did. I asked if I could pray for him and he said I could. We prayed right there on the sidewalk of McDonald’s,” he said.
“Tears just poured from his eyes. He told me he knew he was going to die, and he was ready to die. He was tired of being in pain and he would be better off dead because this was no life — living this way,” he continued. “I stayed and encouraged him for a few minutes trying to fight back my tears.”
John concluded, “My prayer is I showed him the love of Jesus today, that something I said gave him hope.”
He asked for prayers for Steve, “If you’ve read this far, please remember Steve in your prayers.”
John was being the hands and feet of Jesus for Steve in this world and showing him the love and care that he never knew. The world around us is hurting so bad, and it is we Christians who are the real answers to all the pain and suffering around us.
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