Following the Holy Spirit's Lead
Allison Lebo
I go to school in Pittsburgh, but last week I was home at The Crossing to hear Pastor Scott's message about living a life guided by the Holy Spirit, and I've been thinking about it ever since. Now that I'm back in Pittsburgh, I have been looking for ways to minister to others by letting the Holy Spirit flow through me.
Today I was walking down the street and completely ignored a homeless man on the sidewalk who was begging for money (living in a city, I have become used to and numb to seeing this). I got to my destination and felt like the Lord was prompting me to go back and give the man money and pray with him. I sat and thought for awhile about whether or not I should really do it, and I finally decided to just take a step of faith. I went back and told the man that I was sorry I had walked by him before. I gave him the few dollars in cash that I had and asked how I could pray for him. He said he wanted to not be homeless any more and needed a way out--drugs and alcohol had brought him to where he was. I asked him if he knew that there was a God who loved him, and he said he did. Then I prayed with him and asked that Christ's love would sustain him and that the Lord would show him favor to help him get out of his current situation. I prayed against the power of addiction over his life. After praying with Melvin, I told him I would come back and visit him sometime.
I was probably just as blessed by the experience as Melvin was. I felt empowered by the Holy Spirit as I took that step of faith. I was also so thankful that the Lord was so generous in sending me such a non-threatening man to minister to--it made me confident that I could do that sort of thing again. Not to mention, it was fun!
