God Doesn’t Waste Anything
A story of God's unhurried, unrelenting, unseen work.
Often, we will have an interaction or experience and we do not know what the final outcome is, or if our efforts are wasted. However, once in a while, we do get to see a results, or another chapter in the story, possibly even the end of the story.
Recently, a former client of ours passed away. He was one of our very first Hand Up Housing clients. Eric was living under the interstate freeway bridge in NLR when we got acquainted with him. He ate breakfast and lunch with us almost everyday and started helping out and cleaning up after meals. We asked him to help us with some special projects, and we realized that he was chronically homeless, meaning more than a year without shelter or repeated homeless episodes over three or more years. He also had untreated mental illness that made his life very difficult.
We had an empty apartment, so we moved Eric in there. But he struggled. He wasn’t used to being housed, so he wanted the door standing open at all times, which is not great for utilities, security or budgets. He went to worship with us and struggled there too, but he went. He took some counseling and medication for his illness and made good, lasting improvements. He did grow to value the opportunity to be sheltered. He often broke the housing rules but would agree to do better if he could stay.
His residence with us ended in a difficult way, as they often do. However, he had made connections while he was in our housing. One of the connections Eric had made was with the local police liaison officer for the homeless in North Little Rock. We worked together with her to meet the requirements to get him in the apartment. We were so pleased for him to have his own place, and we helped him get the furniture he needed and continued to have a good relationship with him.
The recent news of his passing was tough to hear. We’ll miss him and his big smile. However, Eric had a chance in this life to be cared for, to be a part of a church family, to live in peace and in comfort and in community.
As a statistic, Eric would be viewed as a failure. He broke too many rules and was asked to leave our housing. But we didn’t give up, and Eric didn’t give up, and God doesn’t either.
People who cared and would love him in a godly way and help him get what he truly needed. Let’s be obedient and leave the control of the outcome to the Lord.
After all, it’s His kingdom, and they, and we, are His children. He is busy about His business. He is not wasting His efforts or ours. Thank you for being a part of what God is doing in this work.
