God is Calling us to Listen [Breakthrough is Closer Than You Think!]
A few years ago, I participated in the Daniel fast. I want to write about my experience with it and how it taught me to listen. Listen in a way like never before. Here's a great post about fasting if you'd like to dive more into that topic.For those of you that aren’t familiar, it is essentially a diet free of meat, dairy, bread, and processed sugars. I am a girl that loves food. Truly. I can eat. My day typically revolves around my next meal. If I’m not eating, I’m thinking about when and where I will eat next. I love to cook, I love to bake, and I spend hours and hours on Pinterest looking at recipes. I have three shelves of good old-fashioned cookbooks that I will spend hours just looking through – you get my point.
As difficult as fasting can be for a foodie like myself, I find it incredibly rewarding.
I really enjoy it. Why? Because there nothing sweeter than listening and hearing the voice of God in the middle of surrendered obedience. Each time God has asked me to fast there has been something particular that He has wanted to show me. And each time, I have entered the three weeks of fasting with lots of enthusiasm only to get frustrated and bitter halfway through.
God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than prepared to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God. - 2 Corinthians 9:8-11 (Message)
The lesson is always the same: The power lies in the surrender. Complete and utter surrender to the Lord is always what He is asking of me. Will I give Him 21 small days of my life to listen? Even if all He is asking of me IS to listen? What if I give up 21 days and I sit in quiet? Is that worth it for the One who died for me?
Sometimes I think we forget that hearing from God at all is the biggest honor there could ever be.
That He would find me worthy to even ask me to hear Him speak is the greatest privilege. Disobedience breeds disappointment. The enemy uses the fear found in moments of disobedience to make us see things we never saw before. This can cause us to turn farther away from the obedient path and miss out on opportunities and breakthrough.
If you want to follow Me, you must deny yourself the things you think you want. You must pick up your cross and follow Me. - Matthew 15:24 (The Voice)
Friends, surrender fully and press in! The breakthrough is found when you lay it all down and pick up the cross by listening to Him.