Ephesians 3:20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
A few interesting things happened yesterday. I went out to lunch with a couple people, one of those people were also fasting, and he happened to frequent the restaurant we ate at. When the waitress came and took our orders, she clearly was confused. My friend asked several questions about how to essentially order some grilled vegetables. I was on a soup only day (and no dairy/grains for the entire fast) so I ordered tortilla soup; sans tortilla strips and cheese. As we ordered, the waitress looked at us strangely, until the third person eating with us told her we were fat and needed to lose weight. She proceeded to push grilled chicken on us…
That eating ordeal reminded me of a few years back when I was fasting. Our pastor was away and the staff decided to have staff meeting at an Olive Garden. As I was the only one fasting, I sat there with my ice water as everyone ate delicious pasta, soups, breads, and salads. It was an excruciating temptation, and I probably looked foolish sitting around a table of happy eaters with my, “Ice water, no lemon.”
But when you’re fasting, things like that come up. The food though is just an external fight. Ultimately, you fast because you are setting yourself apart to draw closer to God. Looking idiotic to a waitress at a restaurant is worth the closeness that comes when you fast. This time of intense focus on God has reminded me that God is at work, even when we don’t see or feel him; and He is able to do infinitely more in my life than I can do on my own. I’m grateful for that.
The second interesting thing that happened yesterday (I may embellish a few details) was a heated and hearty debate about Francis Chan and his book Crazy Love. A recent christian hit, Crazy Love has sold over 1 million copies so its become pretty ubiquitous with Christians. Someone insisted to me that Francis Chan would draw a huge crowd of students who normally wouldn’t attend youth convention. I argued teenagers don’t read books, and therefore wouldn’t care. After I destroyed my debate opponent with acerbic wit I realized that I have never read the book. I always judge a book by its cover, back jacket, and title; and wrongfully assumed I could figure the books premise and main points. But this conversation, combined with a recent Chan illustration I heard in a sermon has piqued my curiosity, and I started reading last night.
Basically, this whole post was to tell you I’ll be finishing Crazy Love today…
🙂
Written by Sean
Topics: Sean's Blog