“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
(Job 33:4)
I am in the middle of a Lenten fast. In the middle of what must be the longest March…EVER.
Right now, it feels like I’m sitting against a wall, and sin is right next to me, completely violating my personal space bubble.
Unfortunately, I am also fasting TV, which means I cannot turn on some mindless, funny show and forget about it all for a while.
Fasting makes you extremely conscious of your sin. It’s uncomfortable.
Why am I even doing this? I wonder.
Then I remember…I’m making space.
I’m giving Him the time in my day TV usually takes. Reserving for Him the thoughts that used to be occupied by characters who would flit through my mind, distracting and tempting and splitting my focus.
I’m giving Him the part of my body that needless sweets and sugar took, leaving that “need” unmet so He can fill it as He sees fit.
I can’t fix myself. I can’t “get rid” of my sin.
However, I can make room in my life for God to work. I can intentionally give my heart to Him. Choose Him on purpose throughout the day by NOT choosing something else. Remove the things I go to instead of Him.
Our life as believers does not come from what the world claims. It is not found in success or more things or the perfect figure.
It comes from Him. He speaks, and it is. He breathed His life into me. I want more of it. I am desperate for it. His Word clearly says He has more He wants to give, but is there space?
“As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God.” (Psalm 42:1).
We think our desperate want is for something else: a drink, a spouse, a new outfit, the ideal weight, a child, a job. But deep down, that thing or person is not what we are really longing for.
We are longing for Him. For His breath to give us life.
How much clearer this becomes as fasting shines a spotlight on my gaping need:
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17b-19a).
If I want to experience being rooted and established in love…if I want to KNOW this love that surpasses mere knowledge and not just hear about it or wish for it or be jealous of that other woman who “has” it, I have to make space for it. I have to empty out what I’m trying to fill myself with so HE can fill me with more of Himself.
In his great and tender mercy, He will do the rest. I have faith that He will.
So I sit.
Next to my sin – but with my eyes on Him. His Spirit made me.
His breath is what continues to give me life.
May His fullness rest on you as well, my dear friend!
