One Saturday afternoon, I invited my friend Najwa to go visit a refugee family I had been visiting for many months. She was ready and excited, and so was I, because I had planned on surprising the family with a large platter of shawarma, fries and veggies for us to eat together. So, I bought the big platter and then called the family to confirm we could head their way, but quite unfortunately, they explained that they weren’t home but would be back in one hour’s time.  

In retrospect, I should have called first to confirm they would be home, before purchasing that big platter of food, but I was so eager to surprise them that I assumed they would be home as usual, and now I was stuck with that big platter. With the big hot platter in my hand, I looked at Najwa and asked: “What are we gonna do? We can’t wait for 1 hour, the food is gonna get cold” Suddenly, right at that moment, I felt a heavy burden on my heart for another family—the family Najwa had introduced me to some weeks back. 

A few weeks prior, we had gone to visit a very poor family. A seven-months pregnant woman had received us at the threshold of her house. Standing there, we asked how she and her family were doing and she explained that her son was sick suffering from a skin disease caused by some insect bite and that the disease had spread all over his body and that they didn’t know what had happened. I quickly assumed he might have gotten bitten by ticks or bed bugs and I immediately expressed to Najwa (in a language the host couldn’t understand) that I wasn’t comfortable going into their home because the very room where they would receive us is actually their bedroom. (In that culture, the Arabic majlis sofa is a bed at night and during the day it is the seating area for the guests). Despite her invitation for us to come in and drink tea, we quickly excused ourselves, explained we simply wanted to say a ‘brief hi”. We prayed for her and her family and ran away. I felt horrible and grieved that I didn’t have that love, compassion and faith that Jesus had when He touched, prayed and healed the lepers. In that moment, I was more concerned about myself than this lady's family. 

But, here we were 3 weeks later with a hot platter of food and the Holy Spirit’s prompting—bringing that family back to my remembrance. Najwa and I agreed to go visit them and we drove there directly, without even calling them. They were home and so delighted to receive us. I was humbled by the sheer poverty and I silently wondered how they could survive in such a mold-infested environment. We told them we had a big platter of food that we wanted to share with them for us to eat together and they were so happy and so famished! She explained that they had nothing at home and didn’t even know where their next meal would come from. They ate everything on the platter and we could see that they had been starving! After they had eaten to their hearts’ content, we shared the gospel with them and they listened. They asked questions and expressed a desire to know more about the Jesus we were preaching. 

Sometimes, God leads us to places we would never go ourselves. We, human beings, limit ourselves by what we see, feel, smell, hear, taste but God looks beyond. If we want to look beyond, like God, we have to allow the Holy Spirit within us to lead us. God knew that family was starving and that day He not only provided for their physical need (as they ate the food we brought to their heart’s content), emotional need (as we poured our love on them and took time to listen to them and empathize with them) but He also provided for their spiritual need (as we shared the Gospel with them). When we follow the Lord's leading, we get to witness the beautiful work of His hand and it makes it all worthwhile to never ignore His guidance and direction.