His name is Inoke, and he tells me he’s from Tailevu. I can’t hear the name of his village because he’s speaking so low. He is haggard, and his eyes are bloodshot as if he hasn’t slept for days. His clothes are clean but are too big for him.

I first met Inoke about two years ago at Nadi Town, and I wrote about him in my post about being a cheerful giver and giving unconditionally.

It has been months since I last saw him but he remembered me, and called out ‘Na! Na!’ It means ‘Mum’ in the Bau dialect. He sounded desperate and tired.

When I greeted him, I realised that I was relieved that he was still alive. I didn’t tell him but a part of me had worried that something terrible had happened to him. And something had; he had been in prison. And that’s when I understood why he looked so haggard, so like a little lost child.

I wasn’t even supposed to be in town today. I’d only gone to pickup my sister’s birthday cake and I was there with Bonzie, another of my younger sisters (our mothers are cousins, but we are more sisters than cousins), and her little daughter, Belle. Between us, Bonzie and I helped Inoke with some food and money.

It’s raining here as I type this and I wonder if he and his family have enough to eat, and are in a safe place. I still cannot understand how or why our church doesn’t reach out to people like Inoke.

Our church, the Nadi Methodist Circuit, doesn’t have any community outreach or engagement, no social support and no local evangelism resources. There are youth groups, women’s groups, and men’s groups in each Methodist church in every village in Nadi, but their church programmes are designed to appeal only to people who are already members of the church.

The only thing I can think of to do for Inoke and others like him is to pray for God to help them, and ask Him to meet them where they are, wherever and whenever they need Him most.

‘The King will reply, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’.

Book of Matthew 25:40 NIV

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Looking back now on that first time I met Inoke, I realise now that I had allowed other people’s opinions to shape how I look at the homeless and those who beg on the streets.

Now, I have learned to listen to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide me before I even meet a person in need.

Is your giving conditional?

I get it, there is so much going on around the world, and in our own lives, with bills to pay, the rise in the cost of living, and not enough to money to cover extras, let alone good groceries and prepare healthy meals. Giving can be an added stress, when you don’t have the budget for it.

It’s an act of obedience though to God’s commands.

Help others without expecting anything from them in return

All these questions came to me while meditating on Luke 6, particularly in the passages where Yeshua (the Lord Jesus) was talking to His disciples about loving our enemies and giving without expecting anything in return.

If I believe the Holy Bible to be the Word of the One True God, Jehovah, and that He did send His Son, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ), our Lord and Saviour, and if His Holy Spirit lives in me, then I have to believe the words of Yeshua when He commanded us to ‘lend, hoping for nothing in return’.

‘But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.’

Luke 6:35

The Bible is very clear about Who owns the world, and it most certainly isn’t me. No, it is the LORD. And so, if it is the LORD who owns everything, then who am I to demand an accounting of money or things I give to help other people? Who am I to always be expecting a reward?

‘The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.’

Psalm 24:1

Judge not! Condemn not!

Yeshua was clear in His command to us in Luke 6:37 to not judge nor condemn others, for we will be judged and condemned likewise.

It’s easy to judge others who are less fortunate than we are, but remember, that we are here at God’s mercy.

Learn to see others as God sees you, someone who stumbles now and then. Who is often desperate for God’s fresh mercy and grace to lift her and set her straight again.

As Yeshua said in that same verse, ‘Forgive, and you will be forgiven.’

Conclusion

Giving or lending without expecting anything in return is when we give like God, our heavenly Abba Father, Who gave His only Son because of His love for us.

Far more importantly perhaps, I have learned to pray that God clearly shows me, through the promptings of His Holy Spirit, who I should give to. I have asked Him to put people in my path who do need help and to equip me to help them, and to be merciful to them.

‘Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.’

Luke 6:36

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Your turn

Do you help others without any expectations? Why do you think people only help others when they know there will be a reward?

Share your opinions in the comment box below …

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Prayer

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