The ancient tradition of fasting is often misunderstood. We don't fast from food, drinks, or other fun things because we think they're bad. We fast because our lives are so full that we rarely hunger for God. Think of it this way: you realize that your relationship with God is more important than updating your Facebook status, right? So why is it that a day without Facebook seems difficult and leaves us really wanting to log on, but many of us go days or weeks without praying and we don't even feel like we're missing anything? We live in a country where hunger is, for most of us, just an abstract idea or something we learned about in a world history class. We fast because, as humans, we NEED to carve out room in our lives for God. We NEED to learn to hunger for Him, to hunger for a closer relationship with Him like we hunger for so many lesser things in our lives.
Fasting also brings stuff to the surface. Personally, whenever I am fasting from something, I find myself becoming irritable, self-centered, and short-tempered more often. It's not like I was perfect before I fasted, it's that these shortcomings really come to the surface and are revealed when I make space in my life to see what's really going on. And that's exactly when and where God can do what He does best. God wants to set us free, to heal us from what hurts and to make us whole where we are broken.
I want to invite you to give up something that will leave you hungry this Lent. Pick something that you'll really miss. Be creative with it. Some ideas include: giving up Facebook, giving up caffeine, giving up listening to your iPod or music in your car, giving up snacking between meals, giving up 5 minutes of sleep in the morning to begin your day in conversation with God, giving up your pillow, giving up TV (either throughout Lent or maybe a few days every week), giving up Skyrim or whatever computer/video game you're hooked on, or whatever idea you come up with...
On this blog, we're asking everyone to share what they're giving up so we can pray for each other. Feel free to post updates so we can hear how your fast is going.
I guarantee you that God will do amazing things in your life if you give Him this chance. When you find yourself "hungry" for whatever you gave up, ask Him to help you hunger for Him. Let each time you miss whatever you gave up be an opportunity to turn to God in prayer and thank Him for the ways that He has blessed you.
I'm going vegan!
ReplyDeleteI forgot until very recently that Lent was coming up, so I've only had a few days to think. But I was blocked at every turn. They say you aren't supposed to sacrifice something you shouldn't have anyway, so there went the idea of giving up lust, in thought and action. I can't afford to give up meat because I have mild aenemia. I don't watch much television or eat much in the way of sweets, so to give that up would hardly mean a thing. If I impose a strict bedtime, that would seriously limit how much I can talk to my boyfriend, which is what keeps me sane. When all's said and done, it wasn't until this morning that giving up facebook crossed my mind. I'm ALWAYS logged on. I don't even do anything terribly important there, it's just comforting to have it as a distraction. So that's going away now. Thanks so much for this post. It was super-helpful.
ReplyDeleteGossiping. I find it is something I do too often with friends and justifying it as "reporting"...
ReplyDelete