Take Care Of Others And He Takes Care Of You
10”And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday. 11And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:10-11 Amplified Bible
I remember the first time I heard the Lord speak to me words of direction and guidance. It was the first time I knew that I was hearing from Him personally. My wife and I were on vacation in Florida. I was outside on the porch looking out at the water and I heard Him says this simple truth that has guided me for decades. “As you take care of the needs of others, I will take care of your needs.”
I have endeavored to live by those words since that time and I have found that as I do as He said, as I take my focus off of my needs and work to help others meet their needs, my needs are met. When we can make others a priority and do whatever it takes to help them meet their needs, when we sacrifice in whatever means necessary to see that their needs are met, we stop obsessing on our own needs. Once I have my mind off of self and my own concerns and instead make the needs of others a priority, I free up the Lord to move in my life and take care of my needs and concerns. Because I have taken my hand, my control, my attention off of my needs, He will then put His hand to the matter. As you serve others and make their needs priority over your own you will look back and realize that while your attention was elsewhere, Jesus had gone ahead and taken care of all your needs.
If I have a specific need in my life I find someone else who has the same or a similar need and I help them with their needs. When I look back at what concerned me in my life, I see that it is resolved and I did not have to do anything. He took care of it because my hand was off, and my attention was elsewhere, considering others before considering my needs. When you walk in this principle, you cannot help but realize His blessings and you cannot replace the contentment and fulfillment that results in your soul when you know Jesus used you to help someone else in their need.
What we see in the verses above show us the same principle. As you meet the needs of others, He will take care of your needs. Not only will He meet the needs, but He is also always a God of abundance and will exceed the needs that you have. He just always gives us more!
J Todd Hostetler