PART 2: A Changed Heart

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)

Over the past six months, through more conversations in front of the LOVE’S Truck Stop, God has softened my heart. He is revealing to me that the men and women who carry all they own on their backs day in and day out, are made in His image. If I am made in God’s image and they are too, then we are not really all that different…. I just have more stuff. Proverbs 22:2 says, “Rich and poor have this is common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.” Ephesians 2:10 says, that “we are God’s masterpiece.” WE are God’s masterpiece….. ALL OF US, the homeless and the forgotten included.   For so long, I’ve been focused on their circumstance that I forgot to notice their humanity. And everything else we have in common.

As with many areas of my life, God has taken me to place I used to fear. And this LOVE’S has now become my opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I don’t need to drive to the city to make an impact or travel to another country to reach those who desperately need hope. I have the opportunity to bless someone and share the LOVE of Jesus every time I leave my house. 

So when God nudged me in the depths of my heart to do something more, I said, “Yes.” Not sure of what would be required of me, but excited to find out, I started relying less on what I had to offer and more on what He could offer through me. I started keeping blankets and bags of food in my car. I started rolling down the window and saying hello. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but I began looking these men and women in the eye. I asked, “What’s your name?” I started praying for them. I don’t know them, but God does. I don’t know what they need, but He does.

I realize that a blanket and a hot cup of coffee on a cold morning or water and bug spray in the heat of a Texas summer will not change the circumstances of someone who lives on the streets.  I will be honest... I've struggled with whether or not this is even worth it.  Most of the people I meet are looking for a ride out of town, which I cannot offer.  But every time I go to God with this doubt, He says the same thing:  "It's not your job to change their circumstances; it's mine."  And though a "Hello" and a smile seem like such small things, a single act of LOVE, no matter how small, can bring hope to someone who desperately needs it.  It also brings dignity and worth.  That is what I've been called to do. God's got the rest.

I have been hopeless and helpless at times in my life, and it is God’s LOVE that reaches down to me every time, and lifts my face and gives me hope. He meets me right where I am, even while I continue to mess things up. He is Mercy, and He is Grace. How can I not show LOVE to others, when God continually showers me with His mercy, grace and forgiveness, none of which I deserve?

We are all broken.  We all need Jesus to put us back together, to heal us, to redeem and restore us. Through His sacrifice on the cross, He demonstrated the ultimate act of LOVE.  John 3:16 says, "For God LOVED the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life."  He wants more than anything for us to be free in Him.  His LOVE is worth saying yes to, every single time.  Only Jesus can use something as ordinary as a truck stop to touch the hearts of those He LOVES.

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. 1 Peter 2:24 (NLT)