IF...... THEN...... AND.....

IF you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, THEN shall your light rise in the darkness AND your gloom be as the noonday. AND the Lord will guide you continually AND satisfy your desire in scorched places AND make your bones strong; AND you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. - Isaiah 58 v 10 & 11

God's promises continually seem to be contrary to conventional wisdom and totally unbalanced.

The key to provision, guidance, understanding, strength & prosperity in God's economy is a simple act of unselfish humility those who are poor or in trouble.

This doesn't make sense to a workaholic driven person like me. It, like so much of God's Kingdom, still deep down in my Psyche seems a little weird. When I look at just one of these areas, God's guidance, I realise I'm still hooked on obtaining it through my performance. If I read His word just a little more, if I talk to him a little more, if I behave myself a little better maybe then I will gain guidance.


God's equation is a little simpler. IF I pour myself out for the hungry & afflicted THEN I get the gift of God's guidance CONTINUALLY. But not only that we get the multiple AND's of God. AND understanding AND provision AND strength......