On the 24th of May, the Lord called me to a month of fasting… my family. Some of you reading this probably think that sounds crazy! However, if you have ever met my family, you know that we are a little obsessed with each other. I used to think it was an awesome thing to be so close to your family, only relying on one another and really showing what I thought “the love of Christ” looked like. Unfortunately, not every “good thing” is a “God thing”. On the 23rd of May I was talking to my sister, Regan, and she reminded me of something I had said before the race…
“I can’t wait to unplug from everything! I’m really excited to learn healthy communication patterns with mom and dad! I know it’ll be hard, but I’m ready!”
Three weeks into the race I ended up facetiming my parents because it had gotten “hard”.
When Regan said this, a wave of guilt flooded my body. I wanted to begin a long list of excuses to justify my actions. Instead, I took the thought captive, knowing that guilt is not something from God. Instead of guilt, it was replaced with a healthy conviction about the fact that I had broken that promise I had made with the Lord to disconnect with my family. I realized that because it got hard, I gave in instead of going to God for my strength.
The morning of the 24th I entered into my quiet time with prayer, and began talking to Him about my relationship with my family. He brought to mind that passage of scripture where Jesus calls his disciples to leave their families and follow Him.
When we hear from God, the hard part is actually following through with what He has called us to do. Before giving my flesh a chance to intervene, I sent my family a message explaining our unhealthy patterns and how we rely on one another instead of putting trust in God. That we need to accept that He WILL take care of all four of us. Nothing I can say will make my dad better, nothing my dad says can change my sister, nothing my mom says can change me.
I have only 9 days left, and let me tell you (mom, dad, and Regan I’m sure you are reading this) I cannot WAIT to talk to them! However, during this fast I realized an earth shattering idea; my family will survive without me and I will live without them. The only thing we cannot live without is God, our Father.
When we all talk again, I can’t wait to share stories, probably cry a lot, and hear about what the Lord is doing in all our lives! More than that, I’m excited to hear about the times when one of us thought “golly I just want to talk to Dyer,” but instead ended up praying. The ways we have learned to turn to the Father instead of one another when times get hard.
Random insert: Nick, I miss talking to you too!
I write this to encourage you that when times get hard, going to people is definitely a way the Lord speaks to us. But above all you should be going to the Father before anyone. He is the guy with all the answers anyways!
