Just when panic was about to set in, at the thought of not eating food for 40 days and therefore dying, I heard a gentle comforting whisper in my heart,
“You will have something at each meal.”
Ahhh…sigh of relief. So I probably wouldn’t die. I had no idea what “something” meant (I hoped maybe something along the lines of ice cream or coffee but figured that was doubtful) but figured I could trust God to give me The Plan, since He was the One who created my body and knew how best to lead me. Plus, this adventure was clearly initiated by Him, so I could rest in knowing He’d figure out the details.
As I finished the book, I set out to spend the next few days praying over the details. What exactly did He want me to fast? When would I begin? How would I navigate social situations? Were others going to join me?
Thankfully, I felt like God gave incredibly clear directions on exactly what my/our fast would look like. Many things things are vague or unclear, but in this situation it was almost like an audible voice in my head. I was to begin on my birthday, June 9th, and I was to have:
Protein shake for breakfast, smoothie for lunch, brown rice & spinach for dinner.
Okay. That seemed doable. At least calorically speaking, it wasn’t very restrictive. But it was restrictive in one very specific way:
No choices.
There were exactly zero options in this fast. Usually I had thought of fasts as focusing on what we can’t have (no sugar, no animal products, no alcohol, etc.), but that still left lots and lots of things to choose from. This wasn’t so much about not having certain things, but about limiting our daily intake to a very simplified and restricted regimen that would be exactly the same each day.
I also noticed that during the day there was only liquid. Yikes. I like to chew.
Although I felt settled in this plan, it also struck me that this was very restrictive, and that 40 days is a long time.
I also looked over the calendar and noticed all the dates that fell within these 40 days. My birthday, Jeff’s birthday, our anniversary, a church-planting conference for Jeff, the 4th of July, several dinner-dates, a 5-day camping trip with family, and the CBNW women’s camp where I was speaking.
Me: Umm... this doesn’t seem like the best time to fast, Lord.
Response: This is exactly the best time to fast, Kari.
Okay, then. Thankfully, we had almost three weeks between hearing this “plan” and when we would begin. There was time to mentally prepare, stock up on straws (!), and seek to simplify our schedule to make extra time for prayer (and maybe napping).
As the days and weeks went on, it became even more clear that God was preparing us for this. I researched and settled on a simple smoothie recipe that was low in sugar and supplied a decent amount of fiber and protein, and wouldn’t you know it?? The next week both of the main ingredients (bananas and mango) were on sale at our local produce stand for mere pennies per pound. We bought 40 lbs. and cut them all up into chunks in freezer bags. I bought a case of rice milk, 12 lbs. of brown rice, and three tubs of vegan protein powder. This plan was completely vegan, with no sugar, coffee, or gluten. It was just fruits/veggies, seeds, and rice. Although it sounded healthy, I still felt panicky inside. How could we do this for 40 days straight???
{Has God ever called you to something so physically challenging you didn’t think you could do it? How did He meet you in the midst of it? More to come … thanks for reading.}