So here we are, the final week of fasting. Once again posting on the wrong day. No excuse, just ran out of time due to other commitments like being able to see my family in person for the first time in 4 months.
Although I’ve still got a further 10 days of my personal fast, this is the last post about it for this blog. So I will be starting a new discipline for my next post. But, as promised, I am being honest with you. I ate a custard tart last week. Not because I gave into temptation, but because not to would have caused offence to the person who bought it for me. And I think that’s an important distinction to draw. When doing the disciplines becomes just following rules, it becomes religious and unhelpful.
Anyway, I have found exploring fasting to be helpful in my relationship with God. Sometimes it is easy to forget to bring God into the everyday, but at the moment whenever I feel the urge to reach for something sweet it’s a reminder to turn my mind back to God.
One of the other things I have been doing this week is reflecting on Psalm 51 and I was reminded of the reason I am doing this journey through the disciplines.
Create in me a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me (Psalm 51 v. 10)
For me personally it is about finding ways to keep my relationship with God fresh. It’s about finding ways to keep myself holding on to the hope that I have in God, keeping my eyes open to what he is doing in my life and the world around me. So renewing within me a reliance on God, but also seeking God and letting my heart come in line with his.
I only managed one chapter of the Brennan Manning book. It was a slow read, but all about the glory of God. Worth pondering over, but not got any good quotes to share.
What my month of fasting has shown me:
- Fasting helps me remember to bring God into what I do throughout the day. It is helpful to know that in the future, if I find myself drifting away from God, I have a tool to help me find my way back.
- Fasting reminds me of my weakness and has helped to humble me and force me to surrender some of my problems to God instead of trying to fix them all myself.
- Fasting is something I have found to be liberating and has left me feeling better. In using my will and self-discipline to not indulge myself as the rest of the world tells me I should do, I have had my eyes opened to further to the goodness and faithfulness God has showed me.
- I have come up against some unexpected and tricky situations, but fasting has helped me turn to God first for my comfort. Fasting will definitely play a part in my walk with God in the future, although exactly what form that will take I am not sure.
I need to double check, but I think the next discipline centers on the bible, so I will report back at the end of the week (or maybe the beginning of next week as my weekly rhythm seems to have changed somewhat).
If you are still following this journey, I can recommend exploring fasting. Start small and build up, but whatever you do, search for God while you are doing it. God meets those who seek him!
The Reason for my Hope Blog 