I am currently on day 1 of my fast and I have already gained so much insight. So why am I fasting you may wonder? Well, for starters, I need spiritual clarity from God. Lately, I have been feeling like the pressures of everyday life have been amplified. For the past week or so, I have been feeling discouraged, overwhelmed, and just plain hopeless. Have you ever felt this way? Like nothing in your life was going the way you thought it should go? May I propose, it may be the Devil sending attacks on your life? What we think and feel is not always true. What God says about us is the only thing that we should put our full trust and faith in. When it feels like everything around you and inside of you is prying it’s way to your fuse box, it’s time to fast my friend. It is especially important when God has revealed to you your purpose in life. The Devil will do anything in his power to get you off-course of what God has prepared you for. He will mess with your mind, your kids, people you come into contact with, objects you depend on such as your car….the list could go on.
I was reading an article last night that said fasting has powerful health benefits to us all. (Do your own research to get specific details per I am only giving a summary of what I read and am by no means an expert.) It was actually proven that it can boost and restart your immune system. It stated that your white blood cells actually regenerate. Your body rids itself of the bad white blood cells and regenerates new ones when you fast. This article even stated that fasting has proven to be more powerful that chemotherapy in cancer patients and also has been known to ward off cancer in non-cancer patients. As I pondered this it became prevalent that we all benefit from following the word of God and doing what he has asked us to do. We benefit by obeying in essence. If we could improve our health by fasting, why would we not?!
It was perfect timing for me to read that article. The article was on my timeline at the right place at the right time. In the midst of my struggles I knew within my heart that I needed a spiritual healing and reset. That night my boyfriend called me and I revealed to him how I had been feeling lately. He asked me what the root of my troubles was and suggested it was time for a reset. Right then and there was another confirmation that God was calling me to fast. He will send people at just the right time to tell you what he needs you to hear. Just when I felt like giving up and pulling the plug on my purpose, God pressed in. I was so thrilled to unplug and get a moment of clarity from God.
This morning I went on a walk through a nature trail after I dropped my son off. It was probably the best thing for me to kickoff my fast. At the beginning of my fast I told God the things that I wanted to gain from doing this fast, one of which was to de-clutter my mind and get spiritual insight from God. While I was on the nature trail, I was able to clearly think through my life and extract the things in my life that needed to be changed. I was able to get better insight on the things I took for granted and how silly I’ve been for putting so much worry and emphasis on things that just didn’t matter. As I walked the trail, a lady stopped me and told me that there was a baby heron down on the right side of the creek that I should check out. As I walked over to it, I was reminded of the scripture that I had read the night before (Matthew 6:26-27; Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?) and was reminded that we often times put so much emphasis and care into things that have no real bearing on our lives. For instance, I have been trying to become debt free lately and have literally been obsessing over it to the point where it has been giving me anxiety and adding undue pressure to my life. So I told myself that I was going to just give my cares to God and allow him to be my provider and whatever I NEEDED, He would supply. And he did just that! That is another testimony all in itself that I will share with you in a future post, but just know that life is way to short to stress over small things that won’t add a single moment to your life. Give it to God and you will in turn live more abundantly.
During day 1 of my fast I was given visions and insight on what was important and what was not. I was reminded that our lives are but a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. Death is more real that we know. I attended a high school friend’s funeral a while back and one thing the speaker said stuck with me. He said, “in life you have your date of birth, a dash, and your date of death. The dash is the most important part of these figures. What are you doing or going to do with the dash of your life?” What he meant by this was the time between your date of birth and when you die is where you get to decide what you do in your life — the dash. Will you live with purpose? Will you do something that impacts others? Will you say yes to the calling of your life? What will you do with your “dash”? There have seemed to be so many deaths around me lately and the sad part about it is it is mainly our youth dying! It is a wake up call that tomorrow is not promised to any of us no matter how young or old we are. During this fast, I am praying that not only I am awakened, but you are too. I pray that the person reading this has been moved enough so that you can too start your journey to recovery from what the Devil has stolen from you. It’s time to wake up! You may not have to do a food fast, maybe you can do a social media or a Netflix fast. Maybe you just need to turn off some of the noise in your life. The point is, you need to hear from God on the calling of your life. You need to make sure that God’s voice is the loudest and that you are not making idols of worldly things or people. Comment below if you are taking the stand and joining me in the fast.