I was reading Shawn Blanc’s blog today, and he asked what everyone’s fears are of fasting. My first thought was that I don’t really have any. With the 40 day fast Lou Engle has called rapidly approaching, I realized it’s important to consider what I truly believe about fasting. In my head I know it’s a good thing, and I have experienced the beauties of it when I fast on occasion. But if I’m not afraid of fasting, then why don’t I do it?
I think for me it must be the fear of failure. In fact, I think the fear of failure is a huge stronghold in my life. I chose not to participate in so many things with the fear that I will mess up or not follow through to the end. This has hit me hard in my walk with God. I have trouble committing to a Bible study plan because I’m afraid of abandoning the plan. I don’t schedule out times to pray with the same fear eating at my subconscious. But the biggest place that fear has come in is with fasting.
So now that I recognize this fear, what should I do? I guess I should start by renewing my mind to see things the way God does. If I do fail on a fast, break it early on, and don’t pick it back up, it was still important to God. He saw my heart and my desire to fast although I didn’t follow through. It was not a failure in His eyes, but another step towards loving Him unreservedly. He rejoices in the weak movement of my heart towards Him. Maybe with this in mind I can overcome my fear of fasting.
