There seems to be a theme of the week. Did you know that it happens to be National Eating Disorders Awareness Week?
Also, the youth at my church plan to experience a "30 Hour Famine" this Saturday- Sunday. They will fast from Saturday morning until noon on Sunday. I hope you can see that I could not avoid addressing both NEDA Week and the fast by the youth at our church. Both of these topics are important to me and strangely connected even though they seem to be opposites. The following is a devotion I wrote for the youth. I thought my blog followers would appreciate it too. Can I encourage you to pick a way to fast during lent with me? Bon appetit!
Fasting
Proverbs 15:15
All the days of the oppressed are
wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
I am so glad you have this opportunity to fast. Not many Americans are able to experience
true hunger. Thirty hours is a long time
to fast, and I am really proud of you!!
But part of true hunger is the mind game. You, the youth at Oneonta, know when the next
meal will be. As you look forward to the
close of the fast try to keep in the back of your mind that your brothers and
sisters who are truly hungry have no idea if or when they will be able to fill
their stomachs again. Also keep in mind
that when you decide to fast you are on holy ground- holy and sacred
ground.
Joel 1:14
Declare a holy fast; call a sacred
assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land
to the house of the
Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.
I write to
you as a young adult who has had several opportunities for a spiritual fast in
my short life. Some I chose, some I did
not choose, and some times when the lines were blurry as to whether I chose or
did not choose to fast. This may sound
funny to you; I will explain.
The times I
chose to fast seem to be the easiest to explain. In college I chose a day of the week that
worked for me, the day happened to be Friday, and I would have nothing but
juice and water for breakfast and lunch.
I chose to fast from sun up to sun down.
I usually rose before the sun came up so I would have a small meal
then. After the sun went down, I would
have a larger meal. I always had a
specific situation or person in mind when I fasted. I prayed for this person or situation every
time I thought of them throughout that particular day. When I first began this practice I would get really
hungry so I would also pray for the person or situation each time I thought
about how hungry I was. I learned that
this spiritual discipline really has little to do with food and everything to
do with prayer and dedication. It is a
spiritual PRACTICE and takes practice
just like anything else. I also did not
mention it to many people on the day of my fast. My housemates knew and sometimes a close
friend or family member but I did not talk about it much in general.
Matthew 6:16
“When you fast, do not look somber as
the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are
fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full."
I would encourage you to use this
time to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY.
2 Chronicles 20:3
Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to
inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
Ezra 8:23
So we fasted and petitioned our God about
this, and he answered our prayer.
1. Inquire of the
Lord- ask Him what He wants from you today.
2. Petition your God
– come to Him with one thing or a list of many things that concern you.
3. Meditate on those
hungry children for whom you will raise money.
4. Pray with out
ceasing while you fast.
You will be amazed at how different your experience with
prayer will be when you are denied physical food. It is much more real than those arrow prayers
we all shoot up to God while we ride in the car or before meals etc.
************************************
The time I
was forced to fast was more recent. You
may have heard about it through church. In
October, I was hit in the face by a softball and the ball broke my jaw in two
places. My mouth was wired shut for 6
weeks and I experienced true hunger during this time.
Proverbs 27:7
One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even
what is bitter tastes sweet
Luke 6:21
Blessed are you who hunger now, for
you will be satisfied. Blessed are you
who weep now, for you will laugh
Sunday, the
day of the game, I ran six miles before church- my usual- and then worshipped
at Oneonta with many of you. Afterwards,
I did not eat lunch because of a tummy ache.
Little did I know, my dinner Saturday night would be the last real meal
I would eat for eight weeks. We got to
the Emergency Room a little after 6:00, my usual dinnertime. By this time I was really hungry. I could not chew because my jaw was very
unstable and painful so there were no snacks for me while we waited. Then they decided to do surgery that night
and did not want me to eat anything. The
next morning I woke up and had wires that connected my top and bottom jaws
together. Everything I ate had to be
liquid. If you are thinking you could
live off In and Out milkshakes and Jamba Juice Smoothies for 6 weeks, you
think like me. However, that was not the
case at all. Most milkshakes and smoothies
were still too thick. I could eat broth
and soups but they had to be completely void of chunks. There were other challenges during this time
but I really want to focus on the hunger and lack of food. Yes, I did loose weight, but after a while I
became accustomed to the little bit of food I could eat. I was no longer physically hungry but I then
became emotionally starved. I was able
to find so much comfort in the Word of God, whether through the Bible or
through other people. I received many
cards with bible verses and promises to pray for me. That is what sustained me through that
unexpected fast. Do you see the theme
here? When you fast- you need God to sustain you, whether through your prayers
to Him or through others’ prayers for you. In addition to prayer, you need his Word. As I looked through my prayer journal around
that time period, I realized how close I had become to the Lord. I came to him every single day, so many times
every day, to claim his promises to “fill me with good things” and to “satisfy
the thirsty and fill the hungry”. I also
noticed that through that closeness with the Lord, he gave me insight and
wisdom. Insight into why this happened to me and wisdom to get the most out of this experience. He
truly filled me with GOOD things. Not
only did He fill me with insight and wisdom, but my mailbox was literally
always full! I received packages or letters almost daily. These things
were Gods way to encourage me and fill me up, both physically and mentally. One package contained a juicer from my small
group of girlfriends back in North Carolina. Another package was a homemade hot chocolate mix with protein powder from my very
best friend. These people, through
Christ, did what the Holy Spirit told them to do so that I, the hungry, could be
filled. Read the next few sentences carefully…. I was filled because God wanted
to keep his promises to me…He kept them because I spent time with him and asked him to fulfill these promises to
me… And I tell you this, in turn, to GLORIFY
the God that we serve. Our faithful and loving God who is so worthy of that
glory and praise.
John 6:23
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread
of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me
will never be thirsty.
Luke 1:53
He has filled the
hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty
Psalm 107:9
…for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good
things.
*********************************
This
brings me to the hard part to explain; where the lines are blurry as to if I
did or did not choose to fast. This is a
time in my life that still needs some clarity, so forgive me if it has holes or
makes little sense. I went through a
period of time where I had a fear of certain types of foods and along with that
I also burned a lot of calories. It was
in college after I discovered I truly loved to run. I also walked to all my classes and used the
stairs as opposed to the elevators every time-in every building. I
lived on the 8th and 9th floors my freshman and sophomore
years and used the stairs-EVERY TIME.
These two things do not mix well.
Fear of certain foods and extreme exercise meant I was underweight. There is so much I could say about this time
in my life; why I chose this, how it got out of control, what it led to, how I
hurt myself and others, how depressed it made me later….There are so many
things. But I also consider this time in
my life one long and painful fast. I
half wanted to fast and half did not want to fast. I liked that I was in complete and total
control of food and exercise and then somehow it became twisted and entwined in all aspects of my life and it had complete and utter
control over me. This I did not like but
had no choice anymore it seemed. This
time of fasting in my life was unique and some might not consider it as a
typical fast but I do. Now that I am on
the other side of that experience I can see how God made ME less so that HE could
be more in my life. More God; less Rebecca (about 40 pounds less Rebecca to be
exact). He showed me how I was strong in
Him through my physical and human weakness.
It was a time of spiritual strength but physical weakness. It was my trial and my hardship; I was
insulted, persecuted and weak. It was
difficult but through that experience I learned how to lean on the Lord. I would pray for him to get me through each
day and I meant it with every fiber of my being. I battled depression and control issues for a
few long years. But I can honestly say
that I “delight” in having experienced that weakness. Because the Bible says, “For when I am weak,
then I am strong”. So remember the
following verses as you get into the last few hours of your 30 hour fast. You will surely feel weak, but if you pray
and spend time in God’s Word you will be filled with good things and you will
be stronger through having experienced weakness. Weakness is not a bad thing, in fact it is
quite the opposite.
2
Corinthians 12:10
10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I
delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9
9 But he said to me, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will
boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest
on me.
I will leave you with one final verse:
Philippians 4:12
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have
plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,
whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want
After this experience you will “know what it is to be in need” and you
already know “what it is to have plenty”.
Use this time to unlock the “secret of being content in any and every
situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want”
because you never know where life will take you. I will give you a hint: the secret is no
secret at all. It is written all over
God’s love letter to you in His Word.
The secret is a strong relationship with your God through Jesus Christ. You get that relationship when you give your
life to Him and you feed that relationship with quality time together and
through His Holy Word. He will never let
you down, never cease to amaze you with His provision and never, never will he fail
you. I pray that each of you is blessed
through this experience. Be encouraged,
your willingness to complete this 30 hour fast is inspiring! In fact, I have
decided to take up my Friday fasts again, in a healthy way, during lent because of YOU!
May God bless you and keep you and may God make his face shine upon you,
now and always!
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