Today's Menu: Soup and Sandwich...or Banquet?

A warm bowl of soup.  A turkey and cheese sandwich.  A sweet apple, tangy orange, chewy cookies and something refreshing to drink.  It doesn't take much to fill the stomach and warm the soul.  Today I worked with a number of people who cooked and baked, prepped and served to provide a meal - and a pair of warm socks - for about 80 or so people who live on the streets and in the shelters of my city.

I prayed for this outreach on my way to the church.  Prayed that there would be enough food for everyone - and as usual, God made sure there was enough for all and enough to serve them again tomorrow.  I'm always amazed at how whatever we bring stretches far beyond what we anticipate.

I also prayed for the people we would come in contact with.  So often, I see the same faces at different programs and outreaches around the city.  I thought about what it must be like to exist from meal to meal, program to program.  I prayed that God would help them break the cycle and habits that held so many in the bondage of poverty.  There are many reasons people find themselves on the streets...the ones we 'typically' think of  that tend to afflict the chronically homeless - drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, lack of education keeping them from finding a job to sustain a decent level of living, even a poverty mindset that can hold a family captive for generations.  Then there are some reasons that don't jump as easily to mind - the mom and kids who have fled an abusive situation, vets who come back from service to find they are unable to hold a job because of physical or mental disabilities from their time overseas.  Or maybe they just can't find a job...period.  And with the economy in such a bad state, people who never thought they would have to find a way to survive on a daily basis find themselves without a job, and ultimately, without a home.  Believe it or not, there are even some who have become so used to living in this transient state, that even when offered housing, they decline, content to roam the streets because it's their comfort zone.

It was this last group that had me thinking today while I was praying about breaking harmful patterns.  I wondered how it could be that someone would refuse stability.  A house to go home to.  A bed to sleep in every night.  But then it dawned on me.  God offers to feed our soul.  To fill our spirits.  To warm our hearts.  But often, we decline.  Why would we decline the stability of Peace that passes understanding or a Love so great it would sacrifice something precious like an only Son to rescue us?  Are we afraid of the responsibility that might place on us?  If we accept God's gift, then will we be required to do something in return?  Our fear of the unknown is so great that we settle for the scraps that we know - or think we know - we can depend on.  We settle for a sandwich when He says He's prepared a banquet.
Are we so different in our thinking from our brothers and sisters living on the street?  Are we not also caught in habits and cycles that hold us prisoner?  I too have been guilty of falling back into unhealthy patterns and settling for less.  Have you?  We may not be a slave to drugs or alcohol, but what has a hold of you today that is keeping you from living a life of plenty rather than want?  Are you a poor steward of your finances?  Filled with worry?  Bound by feelings of anger, regret, insecurity?

Poverty is not just a financial state of being.  You can be poor in spirit - settling for less of a life than God intends you to live.  Christ said in John 10:10  "The thief comes on in order to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). (Amplified Bible). 

Poverty of finances is easy to see, therefore, it is easy to assume we are 'better off' than those without.  But I submit to you today that if you are not living life to the full, accepting God's gift of salvation and relying fully on Him for ALL your needs, you are homeless in the worst sense...eternally homeless.  Don't decline the offer of mansion housing.  Don't settle for less than the full meal He's prepared for you.  Don't allow a mindset of poverty to keep you from the riches of His love and mercy.