The need to grow and develop

Jane Denniston March 14, 2025 1 0

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Isaiah 58: 4-12 (NRSVA)

4 

Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
    will not make your voice heard on high.

5 

Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
    and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 

Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?

7 

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

8 

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator[a] shall go before you,
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.

9 

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

10 

if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be like the noonday.

11 

The Lord will guide you continually,
    and satisfy your needs in parched places,
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters never fail.

12 

Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to live in.

The apex of the pyramid of needs in Maslow’s hierarchy is the need to grow and develop as a person. This need is only an issue once more basic needs have been met and we are free from the need to strive for food and shelter and safety, when we have the security of belonging, and confidence in our ability, and therefore a safe space from which to grow and develop. God has imbued each of us with gifts and talents. We all have the potential to be much more than we can think of or even dream. If someone had told me when I was a teenager about the direction my life would take, the experiences I would have, the things that I would do, I would not have believed them. Yet God has led me down many paths, some dangerous, some exciting, all challenging. And along the way I have grown into a person who my teenage self would not recognise. And I suspect that God is not done with me yet — there is more growth and development to come.

In Isaiah, the prophet outlines the steps Israel needs to take to grow into the nation which God has envisaged. The nation has a homeland — a land flowing with milk and honey. They have safety and security, a place to belong, confident in the love of God. Now they need to extend that safety and security to others, to become the nation God has chosen them to be where the poor are lifted up, the hungry are fed, and the oppressed set free. 

Similarly, we cannot be the people God wants us to be without making room in our lives for others. To be a Christian is not to be alone. We are a family, a community, a fellowship and God has plans for us. Plans which include welcoming others into a safe space where they can grow into the people God wants them to be.

Prayer:

God our Father,

thank you for the gifts and talents you give us.

Thank you for all the opportunities 

to develop those gifts and talents,

to grow into the people you want us to be.

Help us to encourage others to develop their gifts.

Show us ways in which we can create safe spaces

for people to grow in you

and become the people you want them to be, Amen.