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PROGRAM D-8299
What do you do when you need to be rescued? I’ve been sharing about the fact that we are precious to God—we are valued and valuable because he has placed his love on us. Some things are loved because they are valuable; some things are valuable because they are loved—and that’s you and me! We are valuable because God has placed his love on us.
I’ve pointed out already two suggestions when you need your Heavenly Father to rescue you: Embrace your worst fears, and then call on God to make his presence real to you as you walk through the deep waters. Here’s the final suggestion:
Give yourself to others.
Do not wait until you’ve conquered all your fears, learned everything you need to know, or until you have all the good feelings and confidence that you need. Those are huge mistakes. Begin, at once to find someone else who needs help and get involved in the lives of others.
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. (Isaiah 58:6-9)
This is God’s plan for rescuing us—from our fears, from our insecurities, and from ourselves. Reach out to the people God has put in your life—people who live near you, people who are far off, and people whose lives are in desperate need. Find those people and become intentional about looking for them, asking God to show you who they are and where they are, and start doing anything and everything you can to set the oppressed free. You are precious to God, and so are they.