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Yesterday I was sitting in a crowded minibus next to my seventeen year old son on our way back from a hot day of adventuring around the capital. It's the second to last day of a twenty one day fast our church in NZ were participating in corporately and I had been doing here. My personal fifth time starting the year off like this after reading the Jentzen Franklin book Believe That You Can in 2010. I read this book with my husband after we missed out on a mission trip we were meant to take to Ethiopia on boxing day 2009 and retreated with this book a friend had given to us to encourage us. And it did. It showed us that there was a process to God given dreams and that FASTING may be an essential part of the process that we may have been missing out on. God had better plans then the ones these we had come to regret.
It's fasting season here in
Ethiopia as it heads into Fasika- the Orthodox Easter which this year will be
celebrated a week after our Easter. Fasting food is easy to find therefore yet
the Daniel Fast requires us to not only to abstain from meat and dairy but also from yeast, sugar, stimulative
beverages and anything that is processed. IE. No coffee OR chocolate!
After eating my falafel wrap
for lunch with its dressings that I knew I shouldn't have consumed (but was believing for God's grace to cover), my stomach
starts to make funny noises as the sun and dust fill the van. My son is quietly
listening to his music and I tune in to the radio discussion that is going on
in Amharic. It's filling the van and drawing my attention to it as it speaks of one of my favourite subjects- FOOD!
This particular radio
discussion was being facilitated between the DJ and a guest chef. He was
sharing a recipe then went on to talk about the fasting that most of the
country are doing right now. Its the fasting that closes down all the butchers in our town for 54 days. Here it requires abstinence from meat (red and white) and dairy.
He was discussing the benefits of a vegetarian diet. He mentioned that Thomas
Edison and Bill Gates were and are vegetarians. We all know how amazing these
two men are. Their imaginations and abilities to invent actual world changing
apparatus' are evidences that something in their way of life MUST have been
right. Then my mind switches to Daniel.
Here was a man who was living
in a time where Jews were being persecuted and their way of life was being put
to the test. At one particular time they were being forced into submitting to
the Kings way of living even though it flew in the face of the morals that they
held. Instead of succumbing to their ways immediately, Daniel courageously
offered an ultimatum to the governing officials and sought to prove that his God's ways would not only be beneficial for him but potentially for all if
they would only SEE what results would transpire. He made a predetermined
decision not to forgo the ways of HIS King. The story is found in Daniel
chapter 1.
8 But Daniel purposed in his
heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s
delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the
chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God had brought Daniel into the favor
and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.
10 And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the
king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces
looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my
head before the king.”
11 So Daniel said to the
steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Please test
your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to
drink. 13 Then let our appearance be
examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of
the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” 14 So he consented with them in this matter,
and tested them ten days.
15 And at the end of ten days
their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who
ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.
16 Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine
that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
17 As for these four young
men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel
had understanding in all visions and dreams.
A few years ago I went to
hear a man called Don Tolman speak after seeing him on the Good Morning Show. I was captivated by what he had to say in a short amount of time. This man had ONLY ONCE IN HIS LIFE attended church; a Sunday School
class when he was 8 years old and he had heard this story. He had heard it in
the King James Version and instead of saying "vegetables", it said
"pulse". The curiosity of this young boy as to what "pulse"
was never left him as he saw it as THE thing that led Daniel to being the most
wise and knowledgeable and being able to interpret dreams and visions. So he went on a seventeen year journey that took him to 33 countries to discover what exactly Daniels diet
consisted of. What this man discovered was mind blowing. He was speaking on the
harbour of Auckland city at an exclusive event and his topic was whole foods.
In his journey of discovery he had found out that the ancient Egyptians
recognized that our bodies were made up of three parts. (In more than one way were we created in the image of the Creator-3 in 1) Our head, our body and our legs.
They recognized that EVERY fruit, vegetable, seed and grain was CREATED to
match certain parts of our body. Not just in their appearance but in the cells they consisted of. That every thing that grew in trees was good
for our head, that foods that grew on the ground were good for our body and
inner organs and that food grown under ground was good for our legs and feet
and their functions.
The whole talk was jaw dropping as I realized the
awesomeness of a God who doesn't do things halfheartedly. He talked about how
our bodies were created with the ability to heal themselves. He had
testimonials of people he had applied what he had learnt who had been healed of
cancer. His theories about why cancer is so rampant now make more sense than I
can describe in this blog.
BUT the thing that astonished
me about this man, was that even though he referred to the "Judeo
Christian literature", he had never come to believe in the God of Daniel.
His interest was only in what he ate.
Daniel only ate what he ate,
however. because he had an intimate relationship with a loving God who wanted
the best for him and showed him that what he CONSUMED was important in him
achieving that best. This was not a 21 or even a 10 day stint on Daniels
behalf. This was a lifestyle. It was something he had "purposed in his
heart" to keep his body from being defiled which would result in his mind,
soul and spirit being in tune with God and with others so that he could deliver
on the promises God had given HIM to deliver.
Oh, how we defile our bodies.
Oh, how we miss out on the so much more just in the way we EAT.
My own personal
struggle and journey with food meant that when FASTING first came on my radar
as a Christian, I trembled with fear at the thought of not having to eat at all
or even to not eat my favorite things! Honestly, in that first year that I felt God
was calling me to fast I was having anxiety attacks and FEASTED on all the
things I was afraid of missing out on the night before I went into the fast.
And that year I decided to go into a FULL fast for the first three days then
continue the Daniel Fast for the remaining eighteen.
BAD.
BAD.
IDEA.
I lay flat on my back for
three days. Talk about detoxifying your body with a sledge hammer. This is what
it felt like. But after learning about all the toxins in our body and their
potential affects on your system, I knew this was a good thing and I pressed
on. It was a struggle though. The whole 21 days. But through that time I got
clarity and vision and God showed me what He wanted me to do with this whole
Ethiopia and Asaua situation. He wanted me to LET Asaua GO by himself so that I
would LET go of trying to force this THING to happen. It worked.
My sister had also decided to
join me in the fast that year as we were doing Bible College together. She was
particularly praying that our oldest sister would get pregnant after many years
of infertility. She had received what is called a "word of knowledge"
from God and He had even told her to tell our sister that within a year, she
would be pregnant.
#scary
I felt her fear as she asked
me my opinion. But she got her confirmation and she courageously stepped out in
faith and shared this message to our sister. That year passed and again the
next year we did the Daniel fast for 21 days. This time our church was
corporately fasting too so we were surrounded by support to do this thing.
SO Much Easier.
Two days before our 21 days (and the year that was prophesied) was up, we get a text message from our
sister saying...wait for it...
"I'm pregnant!"
Sweet Jesus. He reigns
Faithful and True. I'm in the laundry doing my washing and I lock the door and bow down and worship the One who does this which commands us this response..
He makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. Psalms 113:9
Many times since then I have
done this fast. I wish it was a lifestyle for me but it is honestly too hard. Even though I FEEL the results, both physically and spiritually. And when I am desperate for something and want to go deeper in God, I sacrifice
the things I love FOR the One I love. And that sacrifice never goes unrewarded.
Last night after a long day
in Addis and a power cut that went on for hours, we went out for dinner at a local restaurant. I am
eating injera (which some might classify as having yeast although its not
really yeast) and shiro (which is powdered chick peas cooked with spices.) My
son is questioning me about what you can eat and what you can't and the reasons
behind it. My response to him is...
It's not about the "can"s and "cant's" of what you eat, it's about your heart and its about the results.
The proof is in the fruit.
I reminded him of two years
ago when I did the Daniel Fast here after my foot was broken and on the last
day of my fast. my still broken bone that had been taken out of its cast prematurely had
miraculously healed. To the point where I walked to my breakfast table limping
and walked away jumping up and down.
I reminded him that normally
God comes through on the last day.
We went home, straight to bed
as the lights were out and we were all tired. I listen to a message by Bill Johnson about tithing and God's desire to bless us in the spiritual when we obey Him in the physical.
And I wake up at 2:30am to an
email on my phone.
Here I am praying and believing for big things this year!
Most of what I am believing for COSTS money- including the running of our
ministry in Debre Zeit which had been burdening me for a while. This is my
responsibility to raise funds for our project!
I open my email in case its
our friend who sits on the board of Redeeming Love World Missions, (our
partnering charity in the States) who was on her way to Chicago to fly to
Ethiopia today. Instead I find out its her counterpart letting us know that she
had received a donation from a church her husband had overseen a couple of
years ago for four months. She was asking if we had any needs we could put this
money towards. Though she did not see our needs, God saw that we were needy. We
were in need of His provision for this great work He has invited us to
participate in. And since it is His work, He has the responsibility of
resourcing it. Not just with the people but with the financial provision that keeps giving us the ability to move forward.
So He does. Not just as a result of my fasting and praying but as a result of His Heart of Love to give HIM Glory that reminds us that HE is True and Faithful. That He is the Source and that we are just the channels. That He holds in deep regard those who are crying out for rescue. That's my God.
