As I'm sure is clear by now, Isaiah 58 has made a real impact on me as I read it, and I continue to seek specific guidance from God on what is His will for me to do in fulfilling what he asks of me in this chapter. The need to deal my bread to the hungry - physically and spiritually - is on my mind a great deal.
This morning I was inspired by a story I read in Guideposts Magazine about an organization called One Acre Fund that is helping subsistence farmers in Africa double their harvests so they and their families no longer go hungry during the "hunger season" each year. It is a very moving story called Hunger of the Soul, and hit me on several levels. One of those was the fact that I spent many of my childhood years in Africa with my missionary parents, and in many ways my heart is still there. Another was the way the author repeatedly refers to Matthew 25:35 where Jesus is speaking of the coming of the Son of Man in His glory and says, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat . . ." and I know this passage continues into verse 40 where it says, ". . . whatever you did for one the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (quotes this time from NIV) If whatever we did for one of the least is what we did for Him, how often are we IGNORING His needs? How can we ignore the needs of Him who gave so much for us?
And yet, it is challenging in a world where it seems everyone has their hand out, and where there is so much need AND so much corruption, to know where to direct our charity. Personally, I like the idea of the gift that keeps giving. I often think of the adage, "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime." It can be important to give a man a fish if he is starving, after all it's hard to do anything - including fishing - if you're hungry. But I really want to be a part of making a difference of a lifetime - not just a day. For this reason, charities that help people learn to help themselves are of particular interest to me.
This is also the reason that sharing my daily spiritual bread is so important to me. While helping on the physical level is important and I want to do that, I know that the spiritual plane is the one that is the most important and creates the most lasting change for the better.
Father, thank you so much for Your many blessings in my life. Thank you that I do not know what it is to personally go hungry. Thank you for my home, my family, and my health. Thank you for the experience of Your presence in my life - my daily bread! You do so much for me and I am so grateful. Once again I ask that Your will be done in my use of these gifts. Please direct me that my thoughts and feelings are brought into alignment with Your will, that Your will be done on my little section of earth this day. Amen.
2 comments:
For a minute there, I thought you were getting caught up in the physical "sharing of bread" to the neglect of the spiritual, which your title prompted me to realize immediately is the true sharing that God is speaking about here. Glad you got to that as well. :) And now I can see that God wants to take me to yet another level of thinking on this subject:
If Jesus is Lord of my life, everything I have and am belongs to him, to use as he sees best. If I will only lay it all at his feet and allow him to, he will direct me in my feeding of the hungry and clothing of the naked in the physical, as well as in the spiritual realm.
Just as there were those in Jesus' day who were not healed, when he had access to the power (from his father) to heal them all, so there will be those in my life today that I am not called to minister to in any specific way. And whomever I AM called to minister to, God will provide the wherewithall to do so.
Jesus did NOTHING but what his father told him to do, and what he saw his father doing. He said NOTHING but what his father told him to say. I want to get to that point in my life. Too often, I speak and do without thinking, to say nothing of without asking. Father, forgive me!
Thanks again for a very thought-provoking blog.
Well said! In the physical realm, I learned this pretty quickly. It was disconcerting to me when I would give to a charity because I felt moved to do so - and then found myself on their mailing list where they begged for more money (as though, I couldn't find them again if I felt directed to contribute once again!). I had to learn that just because I received a request, didn't mean it was mine to fill. It took me a bit longer to learn this on the emotional plane. Just because someone shares something emotionally painful with me, doesn't mean there is something I must do or say to "heal" them. I must listen and take my direction from my Father. It's taken me still longer to realize this is also true in the spiritual realm. Not everyone is ready for the "good news". I must once again take my direction from my Father! I appreciate what you've shared here - especially as it pertains to Jesus' example. If He didn't heal everyone around him, why should I expect to?
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This blog is simply a sharing of my "daily bread" - my daily walk with God. If something I've said has touched your heart, or sparked a new thought, I'd love to hear from you.