Day 12: Fast Make Hulk Angry!

Recently, I spent an evening hanging out with an Aunt and Uncle. She asked me a simple question “Since you started your fast, have you lost your temper more?” “No, I’ve felt great.” While I thought I was telling the truth, I would soon find out how wrong I was. The very next morning I was getting frustrated with the kids as they were taking forever to get ready for school.

It happened the next day on the way to school. Then again after school.

Ok, maybe my temper was a little off. But that’s to be expected, right?The next morning while I tried to study the Scriptures all I could think of was how I was becoming so easily frustrated. The purpose of the fast is to draw closer to God and act more like Jesus and if I was less like Jesus to my kids then I was failing. I realized that food, not love, might very well have been a coping mechanism for dealing with the difficulty of raising three boys who ALL act exactly like I did as a child.

Now my goal has become simple and the fast has taught me yet another thing: to better understand my physical discomfort and lean into it’s spiritual effects. Instead of allowing it to get me down, I will use it to draw closer to God.

Father, help me to run to you in my struggles and act more like Jesus instead of running away and sinning instead. Amen.

Advertisement