We met the young man when he was caught rifling through men’s lockers at the local gym. My wife, Emalie, was visiting the Y when employees brought him to the front desk. A retired inner-city teacher who never met a troubled youth she didn’t embrace, Emalie rescued him and drove him to the shelter where he and his mother and younger brother were staying.

We didn’t know much about him—we couldn’t even drive him to the door of the shelter because the family’s whereabouts were secret. We learned that he and his mother had substance abuse issues.

In the next few weeks, the young man became a regular at our house. He was short on education but, with guidance from Emalie, soon showed us real-world fix-it skills and an enthusiasm for hard work. We paid him for his work, and he helped us with tasks needing to be done.

Unexpectedly, he showed us one way his life differed from ours when Emalie stopped to fill the car with gas. After she had swiped her credit card and put the pump on automatic, she got back in the van. The young man watched the pump and began to stir when the dial neared $5.

“You want me to stop it?” he asked, preparing to get out of the vehicle.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Now?” At $10 he opened his door.

“No, I’m going to fill up.”

He sat in silence until the tank was full and the pump clicked off. Only then did Emalie realize that he was not used to riding with someone who could afford a full tank of gas.

“The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is the maker of them all.” Sometimes what we take for granted hides others from us.