Day 5: Straining

As I have talked with people who are doing the Daniel Fast, I have encountered people who are being extremely strict and those who are not. I, for one, am not following what I did last year. With my schedule this time, a lack of coffee and the 3 day headache that comes with it were not an option. So know yourself and your life, do your best to honor God with your choices, and remember the point is to make room for him.

One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ~Romans 14:2-5

I want to confess something: writing like this takes me a long time. Even in the simplest of e-mails, I agonize over word choice and inflection. I read and rehearse over and over to make sure what I’m writing comes across as I intend. I have even been known to write a full letter to someone with whom I am scheduled to have a face to face, so I am sure to think through all the points I want to make.

Why?

Because my words matter, not only to the recipient, but also to me.

Is there something in your life that you’re sure to take that much time and effort with? It may be trivial, it may be really important, but whatever it is has your complete attention.

I have one particularly close friend who is so intent in the way he butters his bread that it always makes me laugh! For others it may be the details of a business presentation or the stitching at the corner of a quilt.

If our focus on these things, which in the light of eternity matter so little, is so great, imagine the intensity of God’s intentions toward you, his eternal creation.

As we fast over these 21 days, what we abstain from symbolizes our letting go of the things which leave us straining to see him and know who he is.

So as our strain eases…

And clarity comes…

We see his smiling face, intently staring back.


Tadd