My Utmost for His Highest

As an assignment for school, we have been tasked with reading one daily devotional from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest, at least 4 days a week for the entirety of the semester. I imagine that many of my posts will include revelation from my quiet times with the Lord, but I suppose I can get the ball rolling with the following entry from my notes on the August 29th devotional:

As I read the devotional for today, I’m reminded of the fast I had the privilege of engaging in this past weekend. There are several challenges that have presented themselves recently: finances, my quiet times, my prayer life, and my job, though they all seem to be closely interrelated.

I was struggling recently to see the fruit of my disciplines and as I began to dwell on that fact, my time in the Word began to suffer, taking my prayer life hostage, as well. Seeming only to add insult to injury, my Brothers in Christ, the members of my accountability group, were experiencing incredible things in their walks. The Name of Christ and the glory of God were being spread to new friends in ways that I had not previously seen, while I stood patiently on the sidelines wondering when I would get to participate. 

While this was not the initial catalyst for my fast, a long talk with a close brother eased my anxiety about these situations, and the fast no longer seemed necessary. But I had given my word to God, so I decided to continue. When I returned home from work on Friday, barely 20 hours into my 3-day fast (planned, but not set in stone), the family I live with was preparing a large meal for several people that were coming over that evening. Meals like these were constant throughout the weekend. Feasts would be a more appropriate name. 

On a walk with another brother on Saturday evening, we were discussing God’s constant and current work in our lives and I remarked, praise God, that perhaps the lesson in this fast was to find contentment in the sustenance of only the Lord, even when there is a feast placed before you. Many of us would see the feast and glorify God for His goodness and abundance, but are we willing to rely solely on Him and say no to the feast? I’m not implying that we should not enjoy the abundance of the Lord, but by all means we must be obedient to His will first. As simple as the revelation may have been, by the grace of our Creator and the power of the Holy Spirit, the lesson learned was this: we must not rely on fruit, but on faith; for faith is not a feeling, but a choice we enter into daily.