Sweeter than honey
Have you ever had a taste of something that made you come back for more? I look to all sorts of things throughout my day to satisfy my hunger. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm hungry for or that I'm even hungry at all. I'm just searching for something to fill me up. I can't even explain it. I don't even think that I'm hungry in the literal sense. I just know I want more...
A few weeks ago I was reading in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. I came upon the story when Daniel and his three friends went on a 10 day fast and only had water and vegetables. What really stood out to me about this story is that Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to him by the king and because he was determined to follow God, God gave him and his 3 friends an unusual aptitude for understanding...(see Daniel Chapter 1). I hunger for this. I hunger for God's wisdom and understanding...
One of the things that I love to eat every night before I go to bed is a banana cut up, a scoop of peanut butter and a good two big ole' heaping's of whip cream on top. That's whoop cream if you live in the south. A couple of weeks ago I was praying about needing wisdom and understanding on something around bedtime. As I was getting ready to fix my bed time snack I felt the still small voice tell me to go to bed without it. Sound crazy? Maybe, but I decided to go to bed without it. When I woke up the next morning I had a revelation and had the answer to what I was praying about. Coincidence? I don't think so but you can decide for yourself. So when I started reading about the Daniel fast I was feeling like I needed to go on a 10 day fast. From what? I didn't even know. Why? I didn't know the answer to that either but I decided to take a step of faith and walk with God on this. I gave myself a couple of days to prepare and decided to start on February 22nd.
So, if you are ready to hear a great story of how God walked with me and led me through this 10 and a half day fast then read on...
Day 1 of Fast, Thursday, 2/22/18: Upon wake up I knew that I was on a fast but didn't know why or what I was fasting from. I had just started drinking hot herbal tea about a month before in the mornings. When I woke up I felt like I should not have the tea during the 10 day fast so I refrained from it. There are several other things that I turn to during the day for comfort or to just make food taste good. I mainly stayed away from bread, potatoes, peanut butter, whip cream, and meat.
Day 2 of Fast, Friday, 2/23/18: My prayer journal entry reads..."Dear Heavenly Father, I praise you for your strength and guidance yesterday. I ask that you continue to guide and strengthen me as I walk with you. I pray that you open my eyes and allow me to see wisdom and truth...What stories have you placed within me to help others? I'm tired this morning Lord! I cannot make it through this day without your strength! ...Guide what I put in my body over the next 9 days, let it strengthen me and our relationship. In Jesus Name, Amen!"
Yesterday went way better than what I expected. I even went to bed without my bedtime snack. I have been on a fitbit step challenge this week. It started Monday and today is Friday. It will be over today. I have 98,000 steps in so far and really want to get to 120,000 steps. I am absolutely exhausted from walking so much this week. As I am praying I feel that still small voice tell me to fast from exercise the rest of the days of my fast. I'm sorry, you said what Lord? A little something about myself. I exercise most of the time. I teach an Aerobic class two days a week and I get up early in the mornings to exercise. Can I even fast from exercise? I decided to lay that down too. Although I did still teach my Aerobic class but that was it. I also finished out my step challenge with 120,000 steps.
Day 3 of Fast, Saturday, 2/24/18: Dear Heavenly Father, I give my dreams to you! What is your dream for me? I want people to know of your love and satisfaction they can get when they are following you. I want to know what my next step should be to accomplish your purpose for me....plant your dream, lead me, teach me! What is our next move? "Our" meaning yours and mine! I do not want to move without your guidance and companionship. I feel like our next move is a restful, peaceful beach day together...let's do this Lord! In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
I need to give you a little back story before I continue with my 10 day fast story. On January 29th I picked up a book that I've read before. It is called Chazown. It is about defining your vision, pursing your passion and living your life on purpose. It is by Craig Groeschel. So this is not a book you just pick up and read and put it down. You have to read it, pray about it, write down your thoughts, etc. I mean this is finding the reason God made you and his purposes for you in your lifetime. Not something that needs to be flown through. I had been writing and praying in a specific journal. I took that book and my journal with me to the beach. I gave up spending time with my family to do this beach/alone trip with God. I felt spent, tired (I mean I walked 120,000 steps last week) and needing the time alone with just God. I needed to unplug so to speak. I had already made it through part 1 and part 2 of the book which basically had you look at your core values, your spiritual gifts and your past experiences and see how God can and has used all of those things to push you to pursue his purposes for you. I am now onto Part 3 which is How to name your Chazown and where to start. Another prayer was needed here at the beach..."Dear Heavenly Father, here at the beach with you...looking for our dream! Dream Big! Father me, lead me, move me! The woman at the well... You knew all she had ever done and offered her living water! I am the woman at the beach...you knew all I have ever done and you offer me living water! Where have I dug holes looking for water and came up empty? How can my story help or lead others to your love and forgiveness? ....What is our purpose statement for me Father?
As I looked back through my journal looking at my core values, spiritual gifts and personal experiences they all seemed to point to this purpose: My purpose in life is to share God's love, his words of wisdom and Jesus' truth of forgiveness and move others onto their path to Jesus so that their relationship with their heavenly father can be restored and they too can return to innocence.
Now that I know my purpose how is this supposed to look? What is my 1st short term goal? What would you have me do 1st Lord? Name it and create it. My deadline was March 3rd.
Day 4 of Fast, Sunday, 2/25/18: Had a pretty relaxing day at home. My fast has pretty much consisted of fasting from meat, starches, bread, peanut butter (one of my favorites), hot drinks, whip cream (another favorite). I've been eating lots of veggies, fruits and have been drinking plenty of water but no other liquids.
Day 5 of Fast, Monday, 2/26/18: Dear Heavenly Father, What am I fearful of? I woke up this morning with fear and apprehension. I don't know why. Guide my thoughts and actions today. Show me how to teach my standards at school with or through love. Your love! I know that nobody cares what I know until they know how much I care. Show me, teach me how to do that. What does your list for me today entail? What would you have me do? Pray. DO. Practice.
Today ended up being a hard day. I needed all of my emotional strength this day and the Lord was with me. I had some arguments with people in my life whom I love and love dearly. I was under attack.
Day 6 of Fast, Tuesday 2/27/18: Dear Heavenly Father, I sincerely love you and want to follow you, I need your son to desperately hold me and comfort me for the next few days as I continue to fast and pray .... You have guided me and shown me truths at just the right moments and times. I need your peace that passes all understanding in this matter. I want to persevere until the end. I love you Lord, I love the way you love me and protect me. I love the way you guide me by the hand. I praise you for your voice and spirit that lead me to rest in green meadows and lead me beside peaceful streams. You renew my strength and guide me along the right paths, bringing honor to your name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley I will not be afraid for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.
Day 7 of Fast, Wednesday, 2/28/18: I woke up this morning with SEVERE gas pains in my abdomen. I didn't know what to do I was hurting so bad I couldn't even stand up straight. I ended up praying quite a bit, googled what to do with extreme gas pains and did some stretching exercises and it passed within 30 to 40 minutes. Within an hour I received a disturbing phone call and I knew I was under spiritual attack and it was coming from all sides. When I finally got to work after much crying, arguing and praying I had a guest speaker there waiting for me. I had literally forgot what exactly she was there to speak about. I had scheduled her to come 6 weeks ago. I knew it had something to do with nutrition but I didn't know exactly what. When she started explaining that she was there to talk about the dangers connected with certain foods I knew that God had placed her there for a reason. Her entire lesson was about why we should try to have a more plant based diet and all the benefits of doing so. What a perfect lesson for me to hear as I'm on Day 7 of my fast where I am pretty much eating a plant based diet. It gave me confirmation that I was on the right track and that God did indeed call me to this fast.
Another pretty cool thing that happened on this day was that I had a meeting with the School Health Advisory Committee that afternoon. We are working on a Teenage Pregnancy Prevention week to be held sometime in May. They spoke about needing a guest speaker and I asked if I could be that speaker. I was a teen mom and I feel like my story could help other teens. They agreed and I began the process to set it up.
Day 8 of Fast, Thursday, 3/1/18: Dear Heavenly Father, I praise you for revelation, I praise you for walking and running beside me, for guiding me, for giving me insights and might and the strength to persevere even in times of trouble and darkness. You alone are my hope and savior.
More back story. I'm on a 10 week weight loss challenge at work. Well, we weigh on Thursdays. This morning I felt that still small voice tell me to not weigh. Seriously Lord? You see if you don't weigh or if you gain weight then you give $1.00. I knew that I had lost weight from the previous weigh in. I had gained 2.4 lbs the last time and now I'm on day 8 of a fast. I know I've lost. Each time over the past 8 days that I felt that still small voice ask me to do something I felt like God was saying to me what will you chose? Me or ______. Today I was asked to chose him over my weight. Again, if you know me then you know how difficult this is for me but I wanted God to know how serious I am about him and my dedication to him so I walked up there and gave my $1.00 without weighing and did not explain why.
Day 9 of Fast, Friday, 3/2/18: I need a name for online stuff and overall ministry name. A good broad name that is specific to the overall purpose. Been praying about it. Dear Father, please put the name in my head. You know where you want it to go and who you want it to reach. Put your words in my mind and on my lips!
I should mention here that I teach Culinary. What are we working on this week? Baking sweets and today homemade pizza. Did I mention that I'm on a 10 day fast from bread and sugar? I've been completely amazed at the strength the Lord has given me to say no to things over the past 9 days. The few days leading up to this fast I tried to figure out how it was going to look but I didn't have a clue that I'd be able to accomplish it to this degree. I had to give up many things to the Lord. Things I never thought I'd be able to do even with the help of the Lord. God has shown himself to me in the small details over the past 9 days as he has done many times before. He has become more real to me, has comforted me and sustained me. I have prayed more than normal and asked him to fill me when normally I would turn to food instead.
Day 10 of Fast (Thank God), Saturday, 3/3/18: Dear Heavenly Father, I love you Lord. Thank you for guiding me through this fast. I praise you for filling me up with your wisdom. I ask that you fill me with your unfailing love and Holy Spirit today. Guide my thoughts and actions today. Give me peace that passes all understanding. Take this pain of hunger from me Lord Father. Have me chose the right foods that will fill me up. I feel empty physically. What would you have me write about, speak about, call my website, ministry, etc? Guide my thoughts and words. I keep praying this Lord because I want to get it right! Give me creativity and wisdom to show others your love and show them how to move onto your path.
I felt like I could go ahead and stop my fast after 4:00pm today. I was able to have only vegetables for breakfast and was feeling pretty good and feeling pretty full believe it or not. When the time came to stop my fast I felt led to keep it going till Sunday at church. I had a dear lady give me a gift on Saturday. that came in a red bag with tissue paper. I opened the gift and it had a plaque in it. I didn't really think much about it at the time other than what a sweet gesture.
Day 11 of Fast, Final Day, Sunday, 3/4/18: I get up and am still really trying to figure out what I am supposed to name my ministry that I'd like to begin. I really wanted to have it named and created by 3/3 but it just didn't happen. Am I doing something wrong Lord? My husband and myself have been praying and racking our brains trying to come up with a name for it but nothing has just clicked with us both. We got ready for church and when I got into my husbands truck there was a small envelope sitting in the floor board. When I opened it I realized that it was a card that was supposed to go with the gift I received yesterday but it must have fallen out when I pulled the tissue paper out of the bag. I opened it up and read the card and it had a small paper clipping inside. I began to read it to myself. It said, "God is Guiding You. Each of us has a divinity within us. When we see God working through us and with us, may we be encouraged, even grateful for that guidance. When our Father in Heaven said, "This is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man", he was talking about all of His children-you in particular. The Lord's hand is guiding you by 'divine design,' He is in the small details of your life as well as the major milestones. As it says in Proverbs, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not on your own understanding, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6) I reread it again but this time out loud. When I did I fell upon the words divine design. I said them out loud a couple of times and then looked at my husband and said..."Divine Design.me" We both grinned because we knew that God had just named my ministry. I ended up doing some research into the exerpt and found where it came from and read the entire sermon on it and everything about it stood out to me and actually quoted versus I had just recently read. It was almost as if I had written the sermon myself. I knew that God just named my ministry. When we pulled up to the church I saw the lady who gave me the card getting out of her vehicle and I told my husband to stop so I could get out and speak with her. I was so excited and on fire! I told her that she was a messenger of God in naming the ministry that I'd like to begin. She said why she gave that to me was because when she was reading it the phrase "you in particular" stood out to her as it was meant for me. Praise the Lord for he is Good! His faithful love endures forever!
The fast is now over but something has just begun. I realized that those feelings I get throughout the day where I want more of something that I cannot seem to figure out what I'm wanting more of is God, wisdom, Jesus, truth, the Holy Spirit, understanding. I've been trying to fill that hunger with so many things. When I finally turned to the Lord to fill my hunger, he gave me a taste of what he can give. He helped me lay things down that I was using to fill a hunger that only he can fill. The next time you think you are hungry, send up a prayer and ask God to fill your hunger the way he can. However he decides to fill you will be sweeter than honey. It may be wisdom you need, a peaceful day at the beach or revelation about something you've been wondering about.
So you may be wondering what was the 1st thing I ate after my fast was over. I was actually in church and about to take communion. So the 1st thing I ate was bread in remembrance of what Jesus did for me and for you. He loves you. He will guide you, he will speak to you, he will comfort you, he will feed you and it will be sweeter than honey.
A few weeks ago I was reading in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. I came upon the story when Daniel and his three friends went on a 10 day fast and only had water and vegetables. What really stood out to me about this story is that Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to him by the king and because he was determined to follow God, God gave him and his 3 friends an unusual aptitude for understanding...(see Daniel Chapter 1). I hunger for this. I hunger for God's wisdom and understanding...
One of the things that I love to eat every night before I go to bed is a banana cut up, a scoop of peanut butter and a good two big ole' heaping's of whip cream on top. That's whoop cream if you live in the south. A couple of weeks ago I was praying about needing wisdom and understanding on something around bedtime. As I was getting ready to fix my bed time snack I felt the still small voice tell me to go to bed without it. Sound crazy? Maybe, but I decided to go to bed without it. When I woke up the next morning I had a revelation and had the answer to what I was praying about. Coincidence? I don't think so but you can decide for yourself. So when I started reading about the Daniel fast I was feeling like I needed to go on a 10 day fast. From what? I didn't even know. Why? I didn't know the answer to that either but I decided to take a step of faith and walk with God on this. I gave myself a couple of days to prepare and decided to start on February 22nd.
So, if you are ready to hear a great story of how God walked with me and led me through this 10 and a half day fast then read on...
Day 1 of Fast, Thursday, 2/22/18: Upon wake up I knew that I was on a fast but didn't know why or what I was fasting from. I had just started drinking hot herbal tea about a month before in the mornings. When I woke up I felt like I should not have the tea during the 10 day fast so I refrained from it. There are several other things that I turn to during the day for comfort or to just make food taste good. I mainly stayed away from bread, potatoes, peanut butter, whip cream, and meat.
Day 2 of Fast, Friday, 2/23/18: My prayer journal entry reads..."Dear Heavenly Father, I praise you for your strength and guidance yesterday. I ask that you continue to guide and strengthen me as I walk with you. I pray that you open my eyes and allow me to see wisdom and truth...What stories have you placed within me to help others? I'm tired this morning Lord! I cannot make it through this day without your strength! ...Guide what I put in my body over the next 9 days, let it strengthen me and our relationship. In Jesus Name, Amen!"
Yesterday went way better than what I expected. I even went to bed without my bedtime snack. I have been on a fitbit step challenge this week. It started Monday and today is Friday. It will be over today. I have 98,000 steps in so far and really want to get to 120,000 steps. I am absolutely exhausted from walking so much this week. As I am praying I feel that still small voice tell me to fast from exercise the rest of the days of my fast. I'm sorry, you said what Lord? A little something about myself. I exercise most of the time. I teach an Aerobic class two days a week and I get up early in the mornings to exercise. Can I even fast from exercise? I decided to lay that down too. Although I did still teach my Aerobic class but that was it. I also finished out my step challenge with 120,000 steps.
Day 3 of Fast, Saturday, 2/24/18: Dear Heavenly Father, I give my dreams to you! What is your dream for me? I want people to know of your love and satisfaction they can get when they are following you. I want to know what my next step should be to accomplish your purpose for me....plant your dream, lead me, teach me! What is our next move? "Our" meaning yours and mine! I do not want to move without your guidance and companionship. I feel like our next move is a restful, peaceful beach day together...let's do this Lord! In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
I need to give you a little back story before I continue with my 10 day fast story. On January 29th I picked up a book that I've read before. It is called Chazown. It is about defining your vision, pursing your passion and living your life on purpose. It is by Craig Groeschel. So this is not a book you just pick up and read and put it down. You have to read it, pray about it, write down your thoughts, etc. I mean this is finding the reason God made you and his purposes for you in your lifetime. Not something that needs to be flown through. I had been writing and praying in a specific journal. I took that book and my journal with me to the beach. I gave up spending time with my family to do this beach/alone trip with God. I felt spent, tired (I mean I walked 120,000 steps last week) and needing the time alone with just God. I needed to unplug so to speak. I had already made it through part 1 and part 2 of the book which basically had you look at your core values, your spiritual gifts and your past experiences and see how God can and has used all of those things to push you to pursue his purposes for you. I am now onto Part 3 which is How to name your Chazown and where to start. Another prayer was needed here at the beach..."Dear Heavenly Father, here at the beach with you...looking for our dream! Dream Big! Father me, lead me, move me! The woman at the well... You knew all she had ever done and offered her living water! I am the woman at the beach...you knew all I have ever done and you offer me living water! Where have I dug holes looking for water and came up empty? How can my story help or lead others to your love and forgiveness? ....What is our purpose statement for me Father?
As I looked back through my journal looking at my core values, spiritual gifts and personal experiences they all seemed to point to this purpose: My purpose in life is to share God's love, his words of wisdom and Jesus' truth of forgiveness and move others onto their path to Jesus so that their relationship with their heavenly father can be restored and they too can return to innocence.
Now that I know my purpose how is this supposed to look? What is my 1st short term goal? What would you have me do 1st Lord? Name it and create it. My deadline was March 3rd.
Day 4 of Fast, Sunday, 2/25/18: Had a pretty relaxing day at home. My fast has pretty much consisted of fasting from meat, starches, bread, peanut butter (one of my favorites), hot drinks, whip cream (another favorite). I've been eating lots of veggies, fruits and have been drinking plenty of water but no other liquids.
Day 5 of Fast, Monday, 2/26/18: Dear Heavenly Father, What am I fearful of? I woke up this morning with fear and apprehension. I don't know why. Guide my thoughts and actions today. Show me how to teach my standards at school with or through love. Your love! I know that nobody cares what I know until they know how much I care. Show me, teach me how to do that. What does your list for me today entail? What would you have me do? Pray. DO. Practice.
Today ended up being a hard day. I needed all of my emotional strength this day and the Lord was with me. I had some arguments with people in my life whom I love and love dearly. I was under attack.
Day 6 of Fast, Tuesday 2/27/18: Dear Heavenly Father, I sincerely love you and want to follow you, I need your son to desperately hold me and comfort me for the next few days as I continue to fast and pray .... You have guided me and shown me truths at just the right moments and times. I need your peace that passes all understanding in this matter. I want to persevere until the end. I love you Lord, I love the way you love me and protect me. I love the way you guide me by the hand. I praise you for your voice and spirit that lead me to rest in green meadows and lead me beside peaceful streams. You renew my strength and guide me along the right paths, bringing honor to your name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley I will not be afraid for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.
Day 7 of Fast, Wednesday, 2/28/18: I woke up this morning with SEVERE gas pains in my abdomen. I didn't know what to do I was hurting so bad I couldn't even stand up straight. I ended up praying quite a bit, googled what to do with extreme gas pains and did some stretching exercises and it passed within 30 to 40 minutes. Within an hour I received a disturbing phone call and I knew I was under spiritual attack and it was coming from all sides. When I finally got to work after much crying, arguing and praying I had a guest speaker there waiting for me. I had literally forgot what exactly she was there to speak about. I had scheduled her to come 6 weeks ago. I knew it had something to do with nutrition but I didn't know exactly what. When she started explaining that she was there to talk about the dangers connected with certain foods I knew that God had placed her there for a reason. Her entire lesson was about why we should try to have a more plant based diet and all the benefits of doing so. What a perfect lesson for me to hear as I'm on Day 7 of my fast where I am pretty much eating a plant based diet. It gave me confirmation that I was on the right track and that God did indeed call me to this fast.
Another pretty cool thing that happened on this day was that I had a meeting with the School Health Advisory Committee that afternoon. We are working on a Teenage Pregnancy Prevention week to be held sometime in May. They spoke about needing a guest speaker and I asked if I could be that speaker. I was a teen mom and I feel like my story could help other teens. They agreed and I began the process to set it up.
Day 8 of Fast, Thursday, 3/1/18: Dear Heavenly Father, I praise you for revelation, I praise you for walking and running beside me, for guiding me, for giving me insights and might and the strength to persevere even in times of trouble and darkness. You alone are my hope and savior.
More back story. I'm on a 10 week weight loss challenge at work. Well, we weigh on Thursdays. This morning I felt that still small voice tell me to not weigh. Seriously Lord? You see if you don't weigh or if you gain weight then you give $1.00. I knew that I had lost weight from the previous weigh in. I had gained 2.4 lbs the last time and now I'm on day 8 of a fast. I know I've lost. Each time over the past 8 days that I felt that still small voice ask me to do something I felt like God was saying to me what will you chose? Me or ______. Today I was asked to chose him over my weight. Again, if you know me then you know how difficult this is for me but I wanted God to know how serious I am about him and my dedication to him so I walked up there and gave my $1.00 without weighing and did not explain why.
Day 9 of Fast, Friday, 3/2/18: I need a name for online stuff and overall ministry name. A good broad name that is specific to the overall purpose. Been praying about it. Dear Father, please put the name in my head. You know where you want it to go and who you want it to reach. Put your words in my mind and on my lips!
I should mention here that I teach Culinary. What are we working on this week? Baking sweets and today homemade pizza. Did I mention that I'm on a 10 day fast from bread and sugar? I've been completely amazed at the strength the Lord has given me to say no to things over the past 9 days. The few days leading up to this fast I tried to figure out how it was going to look but I didn't have a clue that I'd be able to accomplish it to this degree. I had to give up many things to the Lord. Things I never thought I'd be able to do even with the help of the Lord. God has shown himself to me in the small details over the past 9 days as he has done many times before. He has become more real to me, has comforted me and sustained me. I have prayed more than normal and asked him to fill me when normally I would turn to food instead.
Day 10 of Fast (Thank God), Saturday, 3/3/18: Dear Heavenly Father, I love you Lord. Thank you for guiding me through this fast. I praise you for filling me up with your wisdom. I ask that you fill me with your unfailing love and Holy Spirit today. Guide my thoughts and actions today. Give me peace that passes all understanding. Take this pain of hunger from me Lord Father. Have me chose the right foods that will fill me up. I feel empty physically. What would you have me write about, speak about, call my website, ministry, etc? Guide my thoughts and words. I keep praying this Lord because I want to get it right! Give me creativity and wisdom to show others your love and show them how to move onto your path.
I felt like I could go ahead and stop my fast after 4:00pm today. I was able to have only vegetables for breakfast and was feeling pretty good and feeling pretty full believe it or not. When the time came to stop my fast I felt led to keep it going till Sunday at church. I had a dear lady give me a gift on Saturday. that came in a red bag with tissue paper. I opened the gift and it had a plaque in it. I didn't really think much about it at the time other than what a sweet gesture.
Day 11 of Fast, Final Day, Sunday, 3/4/18: I get up and am still really trying to figure out what I am supposed to name my ministry that I'd like to begin. I really wanted to have it named and created by 3/3 but it just didn't happen. Am I doing something wrong Lord? My husband and myself have been praying and racking our brains trying to come up with a name for it but nothing has just clicked with us both. We got ready for church and when I got into my husbands truck there was a small envelope sitting in the floor board. When I opened it I realized that it was a card that was supposed to go with the gift I received yesterday but it must have fallen out when I pulled the tissue paper out of the bag. I opened it up and read the card and it had a small paper clipping inside. I began to read it to myself. It said, "God is Guiding You. Each of us has a divinity within us. When we see God working through us and with us, may we be encouraged, even grateful for that guidance. When our Father in Heaven said, "This is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man", he was talking about all of His children-you in particular. The Lord's hand is guiding you by 'divine design,' He is in the small details of your life as well as the major milestones. As it says in Proverbs, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not on your own understanding, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6) I reread it again but this time out loud. When I did I fell upon the words divine design. I said them out loud a couple of times and then looked at my husband and said..."Divine Design.me" We both grinned because we knew that God had just named my ministry. I ended up doing some research into the exerpt and found where it came from and read the entire sermon on it and everything about it stood out to me and actually quoted versus I had just recently read. It was almost as if I had written the sermon myself. I knew that God just named my ministry. When we pulled up to the church I saw the lady who gave me the card getting out of her vehicle and I told my husband to stop so I could get out and speak with her. I was so excited and on fire! I told her that she was a messenger of God in naming the ministry that I'd like to begin. She said why she gave that to me was because when she was reading it the phrase "you in particular" stood out to her as it was meant for me. Praise the Lord for he is Good! His faithful love endures forever!
The fast is now over but something has just begun. I realized that those feelings I get throughout the day where I want more of something that I cannot seem to figure out what I'm wanting more of is God, wisdom, Jesus, truth, the Holy Spirit, understanding. I've been trying to fill that hunger with so many things. When I finally turned to the Lord to fill my hunger, he gave me a taste of what he can give. He helped me lay things down that I was using to fill a hunger that only he can fill. The next time you think you are hungry, send up a prayer and ask God to fill your hunger the way he can. However he decides to fill you will be sweeter than honey. It may be wisdom you need, a peaceful day at the beach or revelation about something you've been wondering about.
So you may be wondering what was the 1st thing I ate after my fast was over. I was actually in church and about to take communion. So the 1st thing I ate was bread in remembrance of what Jesus did for me and for you. He loves you. He will guide you, he will speak to you, he will comfort you, he will feed you and it will be sweeter than honey.
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