The Outflow of God's Love

At Sunday school we're reading the book Outflow by Steve Sjogren and Dave Ping. It's about outward-focused living in a self-focused world. I can't explain the whole book in a single post, but it's about showing God to others through various acts of kindness. The hope is that someday each of us will constantly be thinking of how to help others in our daily lives, building relationships with others, and using those relationships to introduce others to God. Each week it encourages you to find simple ways to show God's love. I keep thinking I should do this or that, but never followed through. Today I was going to so something. Since it was so cold outside and it was trash day, I decided to make hot chocolate for the trash guys(I'm not sure what the politically correct term is for trash guy?). Simple, right? Making hot chocolate is simple. Walking to the curb is simple. Giving them the hot chocolate is simple. But for some reason I started having anxiety as I waited for the trash truck to pull up. Some of my thoughts were "They don't want your hot chocolate." and "They're going to think you're crazy." But I knew this was what God called me to do today, so to be obedient I followed through. I made the hot chocolate, carried it to the curb, and asked the man if he would like some hot chocolate. What happened next totally shocked me. That man, the one that was supposed to laugh in my face, thanked me and gave me a hug. A HUG!! I walked away feeling so good that I'm left wondering if I was showing God's love to him or if he was showing God's love to me??

Father, I can't thank you enough for letting me have this experience today. Thank you for giving me the courage to do something unexpected. Thank you for the response that the man had. Please allow me to continue to help others to your glory. In Jesus Name, Amen.