How and When to Help

I knew that it would happen sooner or later. Although, to be honest I wish it would have happened later. This morning I got my first call for assistance. I listened to the woman's story, she did not need food for her baby, she only needed money to get back home. As I was listening to her story some things were not adding up and I became suspicious of the whole story; she told the story twice and it was a little bit different both times. I really want to give people the benefit of the doubt, I don't want to be putting off who have legitimate needs.

This goes back to that conundrum that we all face in life. Having lived in big cities all of my life; I became suspicious whenever anybody asked me for money. The thoughts start running through the mind: Are they a drug addict or an alcoholic who needs to get a fix? Do they want a hand out so they can go and gamble? Are they really in need, in the first place? Only once, while living in Chicago, did I run into a situation that I feel that I could really be of help. A woman approached me, while in downtown, crying and saying that she needed diapers for her baby. A Walgreen's happened to be nearby, but unfortunately at 5 or 6 on a Saturday evening, the store had already closed and not knowing downtown really well, I could not point her in a direction to help.

While we have all been confronted with this issue at some point in our lives, what guidelines do we use to make sure that we are helping someone? Every time I am approached with this subject I am reminded of the words of Jesus: "The poor you will always have among you." Jesus is saying to do good to them, to help them out. Jesus does not want the help himself because he says that he will not be with the hearers much longer. Are we to rely on our gut feeling when confronted with such issues? What are some others thoughts?