God Bless Us

Every Friday, I go grocery shopping for my grandma. It’s become a part of my weekly routine since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I originally started going to a store in my area called Ralph’s (which you may or may not be familiar with depending on what part of the country you live in). It was fine but seemed to be a bit more expensive than another local grocery store called Smart and Final, which is also literally right around the corner from my house making it more convenient anyway.

Week after week has gone by, and not much has changed about the routine until just recently. There is now an older woman who stands by the front doors asking for help. I’m ashamed to say that in the past, I would have walked right by her, eyes glued to the floor, or I would have pretended to have been on a very important phone call with a non-existent person asking what else they needed put on the grocery list.

I will be honest. I used to be one of those people who would say, “How do I know they won’t use whatever I give them on drugs or alcohol? Why would I give them MY hard-earned money that I could have spent on something I want?” I’d venture to say I would be more worried about the latter than the former. There’s something innately selfish about the whole situation. I believe we are less worried about the person asking for money and more concerned about what we could be doing with the money to benefit ourselves. Or at least, that’s how I originally felt.

As I got older and (seemingly) wiser, I would say, “Well, if they ask me to buy them some food, THEN I’ll walk them inside and ask them to pick out whatever they want. Surely that’s better than just handing them a $10 bill and walking away.” It’s happened a few times and I always leave feeling like I did something good. Like I did what Jesus would have done…right?

But the past few weeks, I’ve had a change of heart. I’ve been reflecting on all God has blessed me with in terms of income and a cheaper living arrangement than most. I still struggle with stinginess, I won’t lie. However, I try to reprimand myself any time I start thinking about me, me, me. God has brought me where I am at this point in my life not so he can bless me and only me – he has put me in a position where he expects me to bless others with what he has provided me expressly for this very purpose.

Proverbs 14:31 states, “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.” In a sense, ignoring someone or lying about how much cash you have in your wallet only so you can spend it on yourself can be a form of oppression, in my eyes.

I’ve wrestled with what to say when assisting someone who has asked for a helping hand. There’s a part of me that feels saying, “God bless you” will come off as trite and unhelpful. That the person who is struggling will scoff at me and retort, “Yea, look at where I am now. I feel soooo blessed.” But I said it to the woman in front of Smart and Final the first time I asked her how I could help and she requested a bottle of Windex. (I thought it odd at the time, but now I think I realize she must clean houses for a living and needs money for supplies). After all, what could it hurt? Psalm 9:18 says, “For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.” Saying “God bless you” may actually instill hope in someone who is really struggling.

The next week, she asked for some laundry detergent. I asked her, “Is that all? Can I get you anything else?” She named a few more items. I purchased them and brought them back out to her. She kept apologizing for asking for so much. I told her it was my pleasure and started to walk back to my car when I heard her trying to get my attention. I turned around and she said, if I can recall correctly, “You said ‘God bless you.’ I think it should be ‘God bless us.’”

I was confused. I didn’t know why she was saying this to me. I felt she may have been a little slow and wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly.

“I’m sorry, what do you mean by that?,” I asked her.

“I’m not the only one being blessed. We both are.”

I just smiled, nodded, said goodbye, and left.

Sometimes words fail me. I believe I’m a pretty decent writer, but when it comes to coming up with what to say on the spot, I’m pretty terrible. I pondered on what she had said that night for a while before I realized it was so incredibly true.

There’s an episode of the popular television show Friends where two characters, Joey and Phoebe, debate about whether or not people ever do good deeds selflessly. Joey makes the point that doing good always makes you feel good, so no good deed can be truly selfless. But is that a bad thing? I’m not saying we should do good just to be able to brag about it or anything like that (Jesus decries this in Matthew 6:1-4), but it’s kind of nice to know you made a difference in someone’s life, no matter how small.  

(Minor language warning)

Just as the woman said to me, God doesn’t just bless those who are going through a rough patch. He blesses those who are working on focusing less on themselves and more on what they should be doing to help others see his goodness through the kindness of a total stranger.

That being said, the next time you can actually spare some change, try hard not to fall into the “drugs and booze” bitterness trap. If that’s how they choose to squander your kindness, let them. Remember, in Acts 20:35, Paul states, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” God sees what you do and is proud of you – there can be no greater reward.