No fireworks this time

Woohoo...I'm on a role now. I finally, after weeks of fretting and unreasonable bouts of jealousy, figured out how to change the background on my blog. I was beginning to dislike some of the more talented blog designers I follow. You know who you are with your fancy pictures and flashing widgets...

And I would have never gotten this done if I hadn't been fasting. Less time eating equals more time for work and I needed a little distraction. The leftover lasagna stuck to the baby's highchair tray was looking mighty tempting, as was the cat.

This fast hasn't turned out exactly as I expected, as though anything ever does. I guess I was looking for fireworks, but it's been fairly tame. Aside from my rumbly tummy, I haven't even struggled that much with hunger. Why I can't accept that as a good thing, I don't know. Perhaps it has something to do with a previous fast.

Several years ago, God called me to fast for a much longer period of time. I'm not even sure why. I guess whatever I thought it was, wasn't all that important. I've debated whether or not I should blog about it, but since the current food strike isn't providing me with much inspiration what the hay? What happened on the fifth or sixth day of that fast changed me so profoundly, I count it as the most significant day of my life; above the birth of my babies and even the day I married the man of my dreams.

So what was it that so shook my world? Let me make a few things clear before I share. I do not believe that Jesus makes it a regular practice to appear to people and talk to them. I also think we must test every spirit, since Paul makes it clear that Satan can appear as an Angel of Light. I would also point out that anytime a human being had an encounter with the ressurected Christ in the Bible, there one and only response was complete and total on-your-face humility. With that said, let me share what I can recollect from that evening.

I was sitting at the diningroom table lamenting over how desperately hungry I was and how I wished I never agreed to do such a fool-hardy thing, when I felt led to open my Bible. I don't think I had gotten in a single verse before I was overcome by a crushing need to pray. And so I began, listing off petitions; crying out for lost loved one; repenting profusely until I came to a point where my words could no longer keep up with the thoughts pouring out of my mouth. I wondered, is this what happens when the Spirit intercedes on our behalf with groanings too deep for words? Please, understand, I was not speaking in tongues. I could still could understand the words flowing from my mind, I just couldn't mouth them fast enough.

Then, all of a sudden the room fell silent and I felt drawn to the stereo system across the room where I found a Michael W. Smith CD sitting in the changer. Absent-mindedly I flicked it on, and Agnus Dei began to fill the room. Allleluia....Alleluia...Alleluia...the Lord God Almighty Reigns. Holy....Holy....is the Lord God Almighty....Worthy is the Lamb...Worthy is the Lamb. Carried away by the worshipful-ness of the tune, I lilted back to my seat (no one was there to see so I felt free to lilt all I wanted). Suddenly, I felt a rush of cold and glimpsed a black mass of shadows fleeing in terror to the exterior room of our home. What was this, I thought? And then I sensed Him, standing in front of me and I fell to the floor, prostrate. I wished that the floor would swallow me. How could such Perfection behold such filth? But, He would have none of it. Lovingly, He beckoned me to stand up and dance with Him. And so, if you had a wide-angle lense trained on my living room that night, you would have seen me dancing a gentle waltz with My Savior. Of course, your camera wouldn't have picked up His image, I didn't see Him either. But, He was there just the same and I have never been the same.

And, I find myself longing for another visit. Perhaps that is why I have felt that this fast has been such a letdown. No fireworks, as I said. But heavens! That wasn't the point. I seem to recall my primary motivation was to show God just how serious I was about this upcoming election. When Sarah gives up food, you know things are getting serious.

By the time I blog again, we will more-than-likely have a new president, barring some sort of tie or other voting debauchle like we had in 2000. And, no matter who wins, I will trust that my Father put Him there for His purposes. I do not have to understand any of it to know that He's taking care of all of it.

As the results start pouring in tomorrow night, dwell on this: "Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God." Romans 13:1