Fasting from Comfort

Starting tomorrow our church is entering into a corporate 6 week fast.  We are laying down our regular "duties" and ministries at church in order to Stop, Look, and Listen to God.  You might think that seems strange-to quit doing things "of God" in order to listen and obey Him.  And for many in our church body-it has been difficult. The idea of fast conjures up not eating, denying oneself and sacrifice.  These types of fasting can be good tools for spiritual discipline. But why as a corporate body are we volunarily giving up good things like Sunday School?  I think the simplest answer is this: for rest and renewal.  God wants us to fast from the routine, the hectic pace, the constant striving to "do" instead of just to "be."  

God is faithful and steadfast, but He also is a God of Change. This corporate fast is about change. The fast gives us the opportunity to stop our normal responsibilities in order to see and hear how God wants to change us as the body of Christ, a pause to refocus on the heart of God.   This Change is for many a fast from comfort.  We like our normal.  It's what we know.  

The other element to this fast is our personal response.  For me the change of laying things down within the coporate body is exciting and I'm not upset or "shaken-up" by how things will change in church for 6 weeks.  I'll miss teaching those adorable 1st graders-but a break will be nice.  I'm looking forward to a sanctuary full of kids-full of life.  And so I feel a need for the fast to "hit home" a bit more intensely if I am truly going to spend time "Stop, Look, and Listening" to what God wants from me.  

For these 6 weeks I'll be fasting from coffee, alcohol and the oh so difficult-no eating after 7pm. Denying myself these bits of "comfort" I pray will lead me to depend on God, to change in a healthy way and give me opportunities to see how much I don't need anything but God's love to fulfill me. God's also been working on me in another area-exercise.  This is something that I cringe about even writing here.  How I desperately want to ignore this area of my life.

Last week in church Pastor Gregg asked us to look at a park bench at the front of the sanctuary. It was there as a visual representation of the fast.  He wanted us to mentally put ourselves on the bench.  He then knelt down in front of the bench, elbows on the seat and prayed.  He said he hoped this would be another picture of what we'd be doing during the fast. I sat their teary eyed by this humbling sight, but my mind was also busy envisioning another picture of what the bench could mean to me during the fast.  I saw myself stretching my calves on the legs of the bench, warming up before a run.  A run that would happen every day for 6 weeks.  If I'm honest with myself and with God, I know that this is the kind of fasting He has in mind for me.  A true fast from comfort. A total dependance on His strength when I have none. Asking the Holy Spirit to guide me and provide me with energy. A denial of all excuses that each and every day I validate in order to keep away the pain and hard work of getting into shape.  

Will you pray with me that I will be faithful to listen to His guidance?  And will you let me know how I can pray for you?  It will give me something to focus on as I run.