This past Monday morning, I walked downstairs into the kitchen to the smell of French toast. Mama J, the one who cooks every single meal for us, absolutely spoils us, but when she makes French toast?? It’s heaven.
So, as I sit there waiting for breakfast to be ready, I spent some time with the Lord. (Lately I have been reading through Exodus, what about you?) As I am sitting there, the Lord puts it on my heart to fast.
Fasting has been talked about by some of my teammates a few times the past few weeks, but I have never done it and have never felt called to do it, so I just pushed it aside. But in this specific moment, I knew that is what the Lord wanted. I’ll walk you through what went through my head:
“Sam, I want you to fast.”
“Ummm.. okay I can do that. For like a day?”
“No, three days.”
“Wow God…that is a long time. Especially here in the Philippines. I mean, it is hot. Like really hot. Plus, I am always running around with kids and doing work.”
“Do you doubt my ability to uphold you and sustain you during these three days?”
“No God, I don’t doubt you. Okay, I can do this…but can I have the French toast first?”
“No Sam.”
Now that sounds a little funny, but more or less that is what I went through to come to the decision to fast for three days from all food and drink except water. That is what the Lord had called me to do, and to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure why He was calling me into this, but I was going to be obedient.
The first thing I did was write down things I wanted to do during the fast.
- When I felt weak, when I felt hungry, when I felt like giving up, I would go to the Lord in prayer. This commitment gave me a lot of one on one time with God. More than I probably ever have in a single day ever before in my life.
- I wanted to go about my day as normally as I could. Obviously, I wouldn’t be eating, but I also didn’t want that to hold me back from what I always do. Like waking up every morning for the sunrise, or playing basketball in the evenings, or carrying 5 kiddos at one time (true story). I didn’t want to lay in bed all day because I was fatigued; that wasn’t the point of this fast. I knew that through this fast I would have to rely on God for strength and for sustenance, just in a different way than food. I would be able to go about my days knowing that I was only getting through them with energy because the Lord provided that for me.
- I wanted to pray for something specifically. During these three days, I prayed for two things. The first was my team. I was praying for patience and love to flow through our house. Secondly, I was praying for my family. (Hey mom! Hey dad! Hey Laura and Leah!) I was praying for you guys specifically, for happiness, for growth, for peace, and for you to feel very loved. I miss you guys.
I could go into a ton of detail of every time I had to rely on the Lord’s strength for these past few days, but what I would much rather talk about is how much the Lord revealed to me in these past few days. It’s a lot, but here is just a little list:
- My days are so much sweeter when I spend more time with the Lord. This seems like a given, but it seriously has been so good for my soul to be in more community with God.
- He is faithful. He does not call me into a place that He will not be. And when He promises to sustain me, He keeps that promise. There was not a time that I felt held back by my fast. I ran just as fast, I jumped just as high, and I still was able to carry multiple, multiple children at one time.
- Prayer is powerful. But prayer with fasting, is so special. The Lord saw my obedience and really came through. I’m not saying you have to fast for the Lord to answer your prayers, but I do think that God was waiting for my team to really rely on Him for him to answer our prayers. At the same time that I was fasting, two of my sisters also fasted for a day with me, and I can already see more love and patience flowing through my team for each other. God, you are so good
- I will sometimes have to say no to earthly things to follow the Lord and align my plan with His, but what seems like sacrificial-living in the moment is actually so much better than anything else.
- Last, but definitely not least. This is my favorite revelation from this time of fasting. On Thursday morning, I broke my fast. I was so excited to be eating with my sisters again and I knew it was just going to be so good and satisfying. As I took a bite of my waffle (I told you, Mama J spoils us), but as I took that bite, I realized that I was not satisfied. Not even a little bit. What?? Y’all, I realized that not even food satisfies me as much as the Lord does. I could’ve gone three more days and been okay. I was given more satisfaction from my Father in Heaven then I got filling my very empty stomach.
Nothing satisfies me more than God. Nothing is sweeter than God. Nothing is more life-giving than our Lord.
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
In exactly a month I will be leaving the Philippines. Oh, how our days and weeks fly by. (But that’s what happens when you’re having fun, right?) But I know that our God is not finished with me yet. I am already celebrating all of the blessings I will encounter before I leave this country.
Let me know how I can be praying for you. Also, if you have any questions about my fast, feel free to email or text me! I would love to talk.
Love always,
Sam
(770) 851-4358. [email protected]
