Today I had lunch with an old friend and church planter. It was inspiring as he shared with me some of his adventures over his last year in church planting and some of the amazing things that God had used him to do in the lives of broken people. I walked away encouraged, and at the same time I walked away wondering why God hasn’t been using me in that sort of way lately, wishing that God would use me too.

I went to Kroger like a good husband to pick up something that my wife needed for cooking dinner, and on my way out I was asked for money by a homeless guy. Of course, I get hit up for money by homeless people all the time, that is a fact of life living in the city, but as this guy asked for help, God stirred in me.

So, knowing that you never hand a homeless dude cash, and not having any cash anyway, I decided to take him to McDonald’s. We hopped into my car (I know that just made someone nervous) and ended up going to Wendy’s instead (probably a better choice). I bought him lunch and then did a novel thing, something I have never done before, I sat and talked with him while he ate.

His name is Mark. He has two daughters 17 and 19 and is from Lynchburg Virginia. He has been in Atlanta for a few months and likes it so far. And, most importantly, he is a follower of Jesus.

At one point I sat there completely dumbfounded when he started talking about his faith. He said, “God is so good, he always gives me all I need.” Did I mention that this guy was homeless? Did I mention that he had nothing except the clothes on his back and had nowhere to sleep tonight? Did I mention that he hadn’t had a shower? And still, he was so grateful to serve a God that gives him all he needs.

At another point in the meal he said, “before I knew Jesus I had nothing to live for, now I have everything to live for.” Then he went on to talk about how life is all about serving and helping others. It was truly amazing to listen to Mark talk about life and faith, and it was convicting to me.

You see, the past few weeks I have been more stressed out than any other time in my life, and almost all of that stress goes back to money. For a while there, it wasn’t looking like the church was going to be able to pay me for this month, making an already tight financial situation nearly impossible. I have been stressing and thinking of every possible way to make ends meet. Just the other day we realized that even though our church can’t pay me all of my salery for this month, it can pay me part of my salary so that we can get by, but my stress over this really hasn’t subsided and it has been hard.

So today, still in the midst of all of this financial stress, I sat across the table from a homeless man that had more faith that God would provide for his needs than I had that God would provide for mine. Wow.

Needless to say, today was a turning point. I don’t think I will forget Mark for a very long time. I might have blessed him with a full belly and a little cash, but he has blessed me far more. Today was a faith strengthening day, a day when I can almost hear God cheering on the work that we are doing for His Kingdom.

My lunch with a homeless man, with Mark, may have very well been the most important lunch meeting I have had in a very, very long time, and I am incredably thankful!