I Give Myself Away

Isaiah 58:9-11
"Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not."

This passage just grabs me. He seems to be saying that if we will remove the yoke, whatever is binding us, holding us back... if we'd stop looking at other people, judging what they're doing & NOT doing... if we would just give of ourselves to the hungry, hurting, afflicted (wounded) souls, THEN He will make the darkness in our lives as the brightness of noonday. He will guide us continually. Our resources will not end.

Let me ask you (& myself) this question: Do you have days when you feel sad, blue, somewhat depressed? In that moment, stop and ask yourself, "Am I giving of myself to someone else who is hurting? Am I trying to find ways to make someone else's journey less painful? Am I being a peacespeaker in someone else's life?" This is a definite cure to push back the dark days and let His light shine through us. If He's shining through us, there's no room for darkness for He is the light!

Another question... are you struggling financially? We all have those moments. Now I must ask, are you (am I?) giving of your resources to someone in need? I have personally found that when I am giving out of what He's given me, my resources continue to flow. Remember the widow lady in I Kings 17? God instructed Elijah to go to her for what he needed. She only had enough to fix for herself and her son.

I Kings 17:12 "And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

Times were hard. She didn't give unto him out of her abundance. She gave out of the very resources that were sustaining her life. Because of this obedience to the man of God and her sacrifice, verse 16 tells us,

"And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah."

These are hard economic times and most everyone is trying to be cautious and cut back all spending. This is a great plan, but I know that when we give even a cup of water to those in need, we are doing it as unto Him (Matthew 25). Try it. Don't wait until you have extra money. Take a portion of your grocery budget and help someone out. Cook a meal for someone. It is amazing how He replenishes what you thought would be a financial loss.

This reminds me of this song... if we would give ourselves away, He could fully use us as He pleases. I give myself away so You can use me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha3JbND1Sqg&feature=related