Whole 30, Hunger, and Jesus

He who is sated loathes honey but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.

// Proverbs 27:7

So I'm currently on my second round of Whole 30. If you've never heard of it before, it's basically a diet/lifestyle change that begins with 30 days of cleansing your body. While on Whole 30 you can't eat sugars, dairy, or grains, and when the 30 days are up you can slowly reintroduce those foods back into your diet to see which ones have been negatively affecting you. It's not very fun, let me tell you. The first two weeks of doing Whole 30 your body basically goes into withdrawals. It craves the foods you've given up, especially the sugar. You'll feel sluggish, you get headaches, and you start dreaming about all-you-can-eat bakeries. You consider eating that leftover Halloween candy that's been sitting in your kitchen since last October. It's crazy how low you will go just to get that sugar fix. But, after those terrible first two weeks, a freedom will come. The headaches will disappear, your energy will jump, and the thought of putting processed food into your mouth will seem completely unsatisfying. Why do I bring this up? Because our relationship with God is much the same.

The Lord has been speaking to me in various ways this week, through different people I've encountered and the multiple praise and worship sessions I've been blessed to experience. I've been to adoration more during this spring break than I have in any given month before. Almost every single day for the past nine days I've encountered the Lord intimately in some way. This past Friday I found myself with a break in my schedule. I had no ministry events scheduled, but needed to work out, had a doctors appointment, and planned to meet my parents for dinner. As I went about my day, I felt a certain emptiness growing, and by the time it reached the evening I was feeling completely restless and out of sorts. I couldn't figure out what the problem was, as I'd been keeping busy and productive all day, and then it hit me. I hadn't spent time with Jesus.

You see, when we're hungry, we'll fill ourselves with whatever is easiest to eat. Whatever we eat the most of, our body will adapt to. It will become used to those things, it will begin to crave those things, and we won't be satisfied until we consume them. Lifestyle wise, these are the things we rely on and we convince ourselves we need. Computer time, tv time, phone time, shopping, bringing work home with us, making commitment after commitment, never stopping to take a breath. We get used to these things, and if we can't fulfill these "needs" we get antsy. It's hard to break these habits, and we might try, find it too difficult and go back to them after a while. But none of this is what the Lord wants for us. He wants to give us Himself.

When was the last time you went to mass not on a Sunday? Visited Jesus for a holy hour? Stopped by the church to pray even if it seemed "inconvenient"? Spent time in intentional community with faithful friends? Really discerned your life choices in the presence of the tabernacle? As the saying goes, "Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong; it is knowing the difference between right and almost right."

I challenge you not to use the excuse that you're too busy. God gives us all the time we need. It's simply a matter of how you prioritize and how you schedule. I've been bad at this and I will be the first to admit it. This spring break though, I heard how constantly the Lord has been calling me to Himself. I answered Him, and it's amazing how the second I incorporated Him into my every day life, I filled a hunger I didn't know was there. After that, I didn't want or need those other distractions. All I wanted was to spend time in His presence. If that seems odd to you, I understand. When we've existed on a mediocre diet all our lives, we don't hunger for anything better. We crave those things that provide instant highs and make our mouths water, but they're ultimately unfulfilling. The satisfy us for a moment, but later and the next day and the next, we're still craving them and it turns into a habit that we no longer question. When you rely on God instead, when you make Him part of your routine, those other mediocre distractions will pale in comparison. You'll find yourself thirsting for what is real, for His flesh is true food and His blood is true drink, and he who eats of it will truly live.

Jesus, help us not to sell ourselves short.

Give us the strength to seek You with all we have.

Ruin our taste for anything but You.

Help us to break our chains of habit and passivity and run to You instead.

You are true love.

You are true peace.

You are true fulfillment.

Amen.

Thanks be to God for David Calavitta of Life Teen, and Cord Dorcey and David Rinaldi of NET ministries, who the Lord used to speak straight to my heart this past week. This blog is a result of their spirit inspired messages.