A blog reader recently wrote this comment "What happens when God is NOT leading for a Season and you choose a path... NOT knowing if He would choose that for you?" Here was my response:

Bicycles can only be steered once they are rolling forward. A stationary bike doesn't need guidance. So it is between God and us. He wants to guide us, but to do so, we need to be in motion, about His business - touching people on His behalf.

We see God state this as a covenantal proposition in Isaiah 58. The task is to demonstrate to the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed that God cares about them.

God doesn't say, "If you'll do just the basics and look out for your own needs, then I'll guide you." He says, "If you'll spend yourself in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed...then the Lord will guide you always."(Is. 58:10-11)

Why will He guide us? For one thing, we will need His guidance. Ministering to the down and out is hard
work.

There are so many; how do we know which to target or how to go about identifying and meeting their needs? We need His guidance.

Over and over the pattern is repeated: God gives His people an assignment for which they are inadequate, then provides what they need. The message: "Go and rescue my people and I will guide you and protect you."

God cares about people and wants to touch them. Jesus' heart burst with compassion when he surveyed the teaming crowds and needy people who seemed like sheep without a shepherd.

But God's plan for demonstrating His compassion has always been a man. He has chosen to work through us "as though God were making His appeal through us" (2 Cor. 5:20).

Continued in tomorrow's blog
.