I started a 40-day sugar fast on January 1^st. I will tell you; I have never been a person to fast. I grew up poor, so food is one thing I am not willing to give up, nor to compromise on. I will not eat anything that I don’t want to eat and most times I won’t deprive myself. That second part is probably more stubbornness than intelligence since it has led me to being overweight an unhappy with myself. So, a friend invited me to join her on this journey, and I had “coincidentally” just signed up for Noom. I had to do something, so I thought “why not?”! Today, I am at day 28 and I can’t tell you how much this fast has affected me! I have given up sweets, treats and alcohol for the past 28 days. I am eating healthy, logging everything I eat, but most importantly, my focus…my attention, is now on God and not on the next bowl of ice cream that I plan to consume.

I am a planner. I want to have complete control over my life and everything that affects me. When it comes to food, I plan and cook our meals at home, and on the occasion that we are going to eat out… I plan what I am going to eat. Now, that might sound like a great idea, especially when you are logging your food and counting your calories. But when you are not…It’s an idol! I would daydream about where we were going and all the wonderful things that I could choose from. My focus was on my stomach and not on my heart. Philippians 3:18-20, “For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.”

Our citizenship is in heaven! That is certainly a goal, but I also find that it is a concept difficult for me to grasp. I can’t touch it, feel it, see it. How do I focus all my energy on a goal that I cannot see? Through Christ! I can do all things through Him who gives me strength! That means when the anxiety and the fear from my daily news feed, or the unexpected happens and my “plan” goes flying out the window, I can lean into Him and he will give me His strength! I don’t have to run to food to calm my nerves, to give me comfort or to ease the pain that is gripping my heart! He is all I need and should be ALL I desire!

I will share a paradox that I have seen in my life over the past 28 days. As I have drawn closer to Him, I have also come under more intense attacks from the enemy. The whispers in my ear telling me that I am not good enough, reminding me of my past failures, whispering to me my deepest fears, all are amplified as I focus my attention and my heart even more on Christ. I am reminded, however, that even Christ faced this same attack from Satan. After fasting in the wilderness for 40 days, Satan appeared to Jesus, tempting him to set aside his true nature and to bow down and worship him. To each of his temptations, Jesus responded to Satan by quoting scripture. As I continue this fast, and prayerfully I ask that even when it has been completed, I hope that I will be able to take the lessons from it, and change my behavior so that my life may be more pleasing to Him.

My focus word for 2021 is “abide”. As I work through this fast and through this calendar year, I turn my attention, my heart, and my spirit to Him. “May God, who puts all things together, makes all things whole, Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus, the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant, Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd, up and alive from the dead, Now put you together, provide you with everything you need to please him, Make us into what gives him most pleasure, by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah. All glory to Jesus forever and always! Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21-The Message)