Lessons from a Fast (6/13/09 - 6/19/09)

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

This weekend, I am traveling to Europe to visit my parents for the next few weeks. It will be my first time to see them in person in over a year, so I'm very excited about that! We're pictured here at Christmas in 2007.

Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:

1. Please continue to pray for our visa situation. We continue to await the verdict of the Bolivian consulate on whether or not our paperwork is acceptable. Please pray that, when Misty and Amy return to the consulate tomorrow, there will be a favorable response.

2. Pray that, once we are in Bolivia, God would bring into our lives women with whom we can develop relationships. Pray that He would call some of those women into mission work among the Quechua of southern Bolivia.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):

We had a class (pictured to the right) on fasting this week and, a few days later, the LORD told me to put it into practice. I'm hoping we don't have any classes on running marathons. :)

During the class, Jeremy (pictured below in the little car in which he normally came to our camp) explained to us how one of the purposes of fasting is to reveal our sins to us so that God can work in that area of our lives. And it occurred to me that the entire five weeks we've spent in the jungle has been a fast... from everything. From the foods we enjoy most, from English as we've had to speak exclusively in Spanish, from the Internet, from communication with family and friends, from indoor plumbing, from almost every comfort to which we're accustomed. But I realized that the hardest part has been a fast from my freedom. Jeremy gave us property boundaries that we can't cross without his permission, so this jungle has become something of a prison to me.

But that fast from liberty, which is something I didn't even know I valued so highly, has shown me so much about the sins in my life. At times, it's almost overwhelming to face them, but God is ever faithful to encourage me just when I need it and to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9).

After these revelations, the LORD told me I needed to fast until He told me to stop. The next morning, I was praying and asking Him if He wanted me to continue fasting. He didn't give me an immediate answer, so I started talking to Him about leaving the jungle. Honestly, I was just tired of being in training and really looking forward to all the comforts of Lima, which will be our next stop. And, in the midst of my complaining, the LORD spoke to me very clearly: "Kelli, if you were in Lima, you would disobey Me in this fast."

I tried to argue, but He responded, "You're having a hard time fasting here. With all the temptations of Chili's and Papa John's in Lima, you would definitely disobey."

Can you believe I kept trying to argue with Him, reminding Him of my great willpower in losing sixty pounds several years ago? That's when His voice got a little sharper: "Are you listening to what you're saying to Me? I don't need you to offer Me anything that's done in your own strength. You have nothing to offer Me!"

OK, so that finally shut me up. Because I realized that I had been doing just that my whole Christian life. I was constantly offering to God my absolute best efforts with all my strength and constantly feeling burdened as a result. But He had said His yoke was easy, and His burden was light (Matt. 11:30). And I had never before understood why I felt a hard yoke and heavy burden.

Later that same day, I went before the LORD again to ask if He wanted me to continue fasting or if I should eat dinner. And He asked me: "Why do you want to eat? Are you hungry?" I had to admit that I wasn't, that I really just wanted the satisfaction of putting food in my mouth. But Jesus had told us this:

"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry." (Jn. 6:35)

And the Bible also says this:

"Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." (Deut. 8:3)

Through this fast, the LORD was teaching me that He alone is more satisfying than any food I could ever want. He's sweeter than the juiciest New York cheesecake or the creamiest banana split I could ever ask for. I miss Taco Bell and Cracker Barrel, but the temporary physical satisfaction of the best meal from there can't be "compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil. 3:8). It's actually ridiculous to even write that sentence because the comparison is so absurd.

Finally, after two days of fasting, the LORD told me I could eat the following morning. But, before breakfast, we had to run 1.5 miles, followed by doing 60 pushups, 75 situps, and 45 lunges. After running, I almost cried. I had no energy. I just couldn't breathe, and the idea of doing all those exercises seemed impossible.

So I offered the LORD my body as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:2). I told Him, "Father, You know I can't do this. I just don't have the strength. But You have no problem with any of this, and 'I can do everything through him who gives me strength'" (Phil. 4:13). I continued, "I don't know what it means to do things in Your strength rather than my own, but I want to learn. Please help me to finish this."

I hope you won't be surprised to hear that I did finish all of my exercises that morning. It wasn't easy, but His strength was sufficient.

This is only the beginning of correcting a lifelong problem of trying to follow Christ with my own efforts. I certainly don't have it all figured out, but I'm grateful for the lesson and can't wait to learn more from the LORD about it. And I wanted to share it with you because I know I'm not the only one who has this problem. I hope you'll also share with me how our great God has taught you!