It’s true: We don’t live on bread alone
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By DERON SNYDER
As part of a men’s discipleship class at my church, I embarked on a 21-day Daniel Fast last month. It was an incredible experience for me and – judging by their testimonies – my fellow Brothers In Discipleship brothers.
My previous experiences with fasting were mostly along the lines of not eating prior to 6 p.m. As I listened to brothers who had done the Daniel Fast and I read handouts on it, doubts arose in my mind. I was uncertain about my ability to complete it in the manner I heard others describe.
My facilitator and assistant facilitator told our class what an amazing 21 days it would. They said we wouldn’t believe how good we felt, how much energy we had or how clear our minds would seem. They said there’d be some tough moments but, overall, we’d complete the fast with relative ease as long as we increased our time with God through prayer, studying His Word and meditation.
That sounded great. But in my mind I was thinking, “Yeah, right. They’re just trying to pump us up.” I decided from the start that I wouldn’t participate fully with the “no meats, no sweets, no TV” gameplan. I cut out all TV except the NFL playoffs. (To balance it out, I gave up listening to any music, news or talk shows while driving, no small sacrifice in itself.)
Three weeks later, I couldn’t believe what had happened.
Shawn and Darryl were absolutely correct in their prediction. I sustained myself on fruits, vegetables and nuts and it was OK! Even more amazing, I didn’t feel famished or weak. I felt strong and sharp. I read more, prayed more and meditated more. I replaced physical nourishment with spiritual nourishment and kept it moving!
I don’t want to say it was easy, but it felt easy. I kept thinking that wouldn’t last. I thought the level of difficulty would ramp up sooner or later, and I’d be a miserable, dragging, starving child of God. I was expecting it to grow more challenging as it went on and, frankly, I was surprised that it didn’t.
Maybe it was the novelty of it and it’ll be more of a test in years to come. Maybe one year I’ll have a freak-out moment about halfway through the fast – like Shawn shared with us – and feel like I can’t go on without eating “real” food. Maybe I’ll slip up.
But like the Scriptures, there’s enough to concern myself with today without looking ahead for possible concerns tomorrow!
Going through the fast reminded me that God is in control and, through Him, I have more control than I think. It was a wonderful, awesome, encouraging, inspiring and instructive experience. As an added bonus, I lost 15 pounds. Praise be to God!
