2006-09-08
Good Morning Cherished of God,
If you read the last paragraph in my previous devotion, you will know that I was facing major surgery for a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. My life is an example of the depth of God's love, because today I have been through a five hour operation to remove a basketball-sized tumor and 3 gal of fluid it produced. I am on the mend, and the tests on that tumor showed it was "pre-cancerous" and not cancer. God has told me He has more work for me to do on this earth, and I stand in awe of His awesome compassion. Praise be to Him for His love, healing, and righteousness!
In recently previous devotions, I have been writing about fasting. No discussion of this sort would be complete without reviewing some of the examples of it in the Scriptures. So, that will be the subject of this devotion and possibly others to follow. In PS 35: 13, David was praying for his evil enemies who bore false witness again him, accusing him of crimes he didn't commit. "But when they were sick, I dressing in mourning; I deprived myself of food. I prayed with my head bowed low, as I would pray for a friend or a brother. I went around bent over in mourning, as one who mourns for his mother." The act of fasting here was done with a pure heart, no ulterior motives and not to the point where David's health was threatened. We might ask, "why would David fast and pray for his enemies?" I believe it was because he surrendered to God's will, even though praying for one's enemies is very difficult from the human standpoint. Moreover, we must understand that in more modern times, Christ was very explicit about doing this in MT 5: 44-45a, part of the Sermon on the Mount. "But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the sons of your Father in heaven." Once again, we can see the consistency of God's teaching in both the OT and the NT in this matter. David's willingness to do this is one more reason why God called David, "a man after My own heart."
In 2 SAM 12: 9-13, we learn that David had an affair with the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, a beautiful woman named Bathsheba. Afterward, he used his authority as king to carry out a plot for Uriah to be killed in battle. Bathsheba became pregnant and gave birth to a baby son. God was very displeased and decided to punish David for his evil deeds. 2 SAM 12: 16, 18a, 20-21, "David prayed to God that the child would get well. He refused to eat anything, and every night he went into the child's room and spent the night lying on the floor...A week later the child died...David got up from the floor, took a bath, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. Then he went and worshipped in the house of the Lord. When he returned to the palace, he asked for food and ate it as soon as it was served." Afterward, his officials asked him why he wept and fasted while the child was alive, but as soon as the child died, he got up and ate. David's answer probably came as a surprise to them. The king said that he knew it was right to mourn and fast while the child was still alive, while there was still a chance the Lord would be merciful to him. But then David posed questions in (23), "Why should I fast? Could I bring the child back to life? I will some day go to where he is, but he can never come back to me." God's corrective action on David was not finished with the death of his son with Bathsheba. In 2 SAM 13: 28-30, we learn that the prophet, Nathan, had warned David that God would allow a family member to bring trouble to him. Absalom, another son of David goes on to kill his cousin, Ammon, and all of David's sons, except for Solomon [who had been born after this first child with Bathsheba]. The lesson in all of this with regard to fasting is that while it can be used to add power to a plea to God, it must be used for righteous reasons. It can't be used effectively to avoid punishment deserved from God, nor can it be used for wrong reasons to bring about a result that is not in keeping with God's will.
Learning to yield to God's will is no easy task for most people. It takes willingness to understand what God's will is, for starters. Then, it takes submitting to that will, even if it means pain that will bring gain in one's faith. David was a complex personality with many faults and many very strong points in his relationship both with God and with others around him. Any in-depth study of David reveals a man who was quite dysfunctional in his personal life-having married many women, having not done good, loving parenting to his "blended" family, and having not been able to spend enough quality time with his own children. And yet, David's inner soul, as revealed in the Psalms, is something beautiful to behold. His spiritual relationship with God is an example from which we can learn and grow in our own relationships with the Father. Moreover, through reading about David in 1 SAM, 2 SAM, and PS we can track his own spiritual growth through a series of mistakes made, God-driven corrections, and development of a remarkably mature understanding of God's will toward the end of his life. His application of fasting yields some salient examples.
PRAYER: O Lord, as we stand before Your mighty throne today, we acknowledge our utter need for Your intervention in our lives. You have given us methods like fasting that when used rightly can focus our attention on You. They can indicate to You that we are ready to submit to Your will, even if it means we must experience physical or emotional discomfort, as we go against our fleshly human nature. When the Jews were in exile in Persia and they were told by the emperor, Artexerxes, they could finally go home to Israel. Their leader, Ezra, told them to fast and humble themselves before You before making the trip home. EZRA 8: 21-23, "There by the Ahava Canal I gave orders for us all to fast and humble ourselves before our God and to ask them to lead us on our journey and protect us and our children and all our possessions. I would have been ashamed to ask the emperor for a troop of cavalry to guard us from any enemies during our journey because I had told him that our God blesses everyone who trusts in Him, but that He is displeased with and punishes anyone who turns away from Him. So we fasted and prayed for God to protect us, and He answered our prayers." From Your point of view, this was the right thing for them to do. It is also the right thing for us to turn to You FIRST when a decision needs to be made, even a controversial or difficult one. This lesson does not come easily to us, because we are subjected to the work of the devil in temptations to give in to our outer fleshly selves. Today, we ask for Your help in this matter, including how, when, and for how long we should fast. We ask You to guide us to never fast, except in ways and for reasons that are right with You. You alone have the power to escort us through the snares that the evil one has set for us. PS 31 is a prayer in trust of You. PS 31: 3-5, "You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God." We thank, praise, and worship You, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, I am led to continue sharing some wonderful examples of fasting in the Scriptures. It never ceases to amaze me, how God can teach me to write about a subject which I have felt was personally difficult all my life. He gently shows us through the examples in the Bible how, when, and for how long to use fasting or any other method of drawing His attention to our pleas. He also shows us wrongful ways to fast, so that we won't be pulled into this trap. For a person who has just gone through major surgery for the first time in my life, I have been surrounded by the Lord's love in extraordinary ways. I share this with you, so that you will know God's remarkable power, in this case to carry someone through such an experience without fright and anxiety. If that sounds impossible, we must remember that our righteous God can and will do the impossible [MK 10: 27]. God gave me a peace from the beginning of this medical ordeal, and then He surrounded me with the most extraordinary emotional and spiritual support from my family and friends. People put themselves out for me in amazing ways, and I can see God at work through them. This believer is eternally grateful and eager to share what I believe God will do for anyone who loves Him. Remember: 2 CH 16: 9, "The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." We must never forget that He gave us His only begotten Son, so that no one should perish, but that all should have eternal life [JN 3: 16]. What greater love can there be?
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn