Today is day seventeen of a forty day fast. I have joined with women from all walks of life to celebrate the new book by Wendy Speake. Wendy has been leading a forty day sugar fast for 6 years. Usually they are held in January, but this special fast is a pre launch of her book. The premise is to fast from refined sugar for forty days while feasting on God’s Word. But something amazing happens for me in the beginning stages of this fasting journey. The more I seek God in this time the more He asks me to set aside.
A couple of weeks before the fast Wendy asked that we make a plan; decide what forms of sugar we would be cutting out. For me I knew instantly that as much as I love sweets, chocolate, and anything resembling a pastry, it was gluten that was the enemy. I knew the bread and pasta had to go. And so I sat at my laptop and typed out my fasting plan. I was very specific. I was excited to get started and anticipated downloading my pre launch copy of the book. And a huge part of me knew this was the perfect time to take these steps as I had decided to lose the weight I had gained and held on to these last couple of years, before my birthday in January.
So as the fast began I was good to go, in the first three days I suffered the headache from no sugar, but that quickly passed and I was off to a great start. I was loving the book and my reading in the Word of God with a renewed sense of desire to grow more deeply in love with my Savior.
But then something happened. I felt the Lord calling me to fast from a few things unrelated to food, but things that were keeping me from fully hearing from Him. And so I committed to putting my phone down, staying away from conversation with negative people, and speaking more kindly to my children at night when I’m exhausted and there is so much still to do.
It seemed like a lot, but the more I feasted on His Word, the easier it became. I was thinking more about my words and reactions. I was more aware of the mindless scrolling, and walked away from my phone. I purposefully kept myself away from people I knew would only have negative things to say. I was feeling good. I was feeling strong. I was feeling filled. And then two days ago, while I was in bed, before my alarm had gone off and I’d yet to even open my eyes, I heard God ask for my coffee. “Just today” he whispered. I was sure I’d heard wrong. “God,” I asked (three times because I can be stubborn), “not my coffee, surely You don’t want that?” I felt in the very depths of my spirit that was exactly what He wanted. “But God,” I pleaded, “ I’m not addicted to my coffee, sometime my best moments with you are with a cup of coffee. Why do you want that, coffee is just part of my routine, I don’t love it more than you. God, why my coffee?”
“Because,” he whispered “I want you to talk to me, seek me, hear me each time you desire coffee today.”
“OK” I said. “I will.”
That was a good day. I realized the sweetness of reaching to Him to fill me and speak to me, when I would normally sip my coffee. He opened my eyes that day to a fullness of knowing Him in a deeper way. I am so aware of how much I don’t know about Him.
Today in our reading, Wendy wrote of how we need to stop speaking and listen. Yes, I do!
Wendy writes, “As you fast, let me encourage you to stop talking and start listening. Stop running your mouth and start running to Him with ears to hear. Author Bob Sorge wrote these challenging words in his book The Secrets of the Secret Place, “Hearing God’s voice has become the singular quest of my heart, the sole pursuit that alone satisfies the great longings of my heart.”1 You have committed to intentionally lay down for forty days that which cannot satisfy in order to experience the only One who can. His voice satisfies. Hearing Him and doing what He says is the secret that can be found only in the quiet of a listening heart.”(The 40-Day Sugar Fast: Where Physical Detox Meets Spiritual Transformation)
I love when God speaks, but today I am reminded that often I’m too busy to listen. I talk to Him, but don’t always allow Him the time to talk back to me. As I continue to feast on His Word these next twenty-two days, I will dwell on our scripture today.
“Don’t shoot off your mouth or speak before you think. Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear. God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better.” Ecclesiastes 5:2 MSG
Thank you Lord for your patience with this child. Hep me to quiet my mouth so that I can hear more of you!
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