Love and Need

I had just sat down this afternoon to write about Love and Need (what true love is and how God meets our needs) when my mom frantically rushed in and announced my two foster pups had just broken through the fence and escaped from the yard. I've been frittering my time this weekend so wasting two more hours searching for pups who escaped once again through a fence someone (who will remain unnamed) should have fixed long ago was a source of growing irritation. We found the two wild girlies swimming like Tom and Huck in a nearby neighbor's large, fishy smelling pond. After getting my just washed clothes muddy and saying some unkind things to my mom, I realized God might be teaching me I need to practice "being" more patient and loving rather than smugly writing about it. So I re-grouped, apologized and chatted with mom over tuna salad (I could blame the whole grumpy thing on low blood sugar…yeah). We talked about church and service. I've been feeling like I'm not really doing God's work (actively serving those in need) and going to church is fast becoming an easy out. While looking up some Bible verses an hour ago I found this verse in Isaiah. An answer? God's perspective on love and need...hmm.

Isaiah 58:6-14

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 him,
and not turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break froth 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.
If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
With the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in darkness,
and your light will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations,
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
then you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.