A not-so-unique call

A few years ago I came across this passage. Ironically (or maybe not so ironically) I was fasting on that day and honestly felt pretty good and holy about myself! I'm pretty sure God was putting His finger in my face (what a loving God to do that!).

From Isaiah 58:

"No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.

Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble.

Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring."

I desperately want God to guide me, protect me, and heal me. I want to be like a well watered garden, I want my strength to be restored! But as I stared at my Bible that day, I realized that I was not lifting a finger to give shelter to the homeless or to feed the hungry. I was pretty sure that my church was doing that and I do give to the church. But I'm not sure that's what God meant, not ALL of what He meant anyway.

I'm afraid most of us would rather go to Africa or Haiti than to go across town and find ways to feed the poor or take care of orphans. We don't mind serving for one hour once a year somewhere, but we are BUSY!! Of course we should go when God calls us to serve poor countries. That is a unique call. Do we pause to ask if that's what He wants US to do?

We are ALL called to the poor among us, that is not a unique or special call. This is not something only to be done on a trip or once or twice a year.

My sister is a stay-at-home grandmother. She and her husband have worked hard to provide for their family and to have a nice home and a nice life. A few years ago they felt God calling them out of the calm and cozy to care for foster newborns waiting to be placed in homes. So they, sometimes for a few days and sometimes for a few months, give up sleep and freedom and peace and quiet to love, care for and pray for newborn babies. People often say to her, "Oh gosh, I could never do that. It would break my heart to let them go." Her response is, "It DOES break my heart. But God has asked me have a broken heart so that these babies can be safe and loved."

I had to close my Bible that day and ask God to forgive me. I had to ask Him to show me how to serve where I am.

The question for me and for all of us is....Can God ask me to give up comfort and an unbroken heart and maybe even what I consider to be safe to be His hands and feet on this earth? Can we let HIM show us the way instead of dreaming up what WE want to do and what is comfortable for us and what brings us attention and applause?