I always laughed at the old Snickers commercials. Someone would be cranky, irrational, or completely unlike themselves until they took a bite of a candy bar. Then their slogan would appear: "You're not you when you're hungry."
If the sermon's ever kept you too long from lunch, you know there's truth in those funny ads.
Hunger has a way of revealing what's going on within us. When our stomachs are empty, our patience gets shorter and our tempers get quicker. Those little inconveniences that never bothered us before start to get to us more.
Maybe that's one reason fasting has long been a spiritual practice. In Psalm 69, David says he humbled himself through fasting. That means he did not see fasting as a way to impress God or earn God's favor. He wasn't even trying to get God to do something for him. Humbling your soul has a way of creating space for God to reveal what is in your heart.
When we fast, we discover how often we turn to food, entertainment, noise, or distraction for comfort. Hunger exposes our habits and our dependencies. And it shows that not every craving deserves to be fulfilled.
Our culture encourages us to satisfy every appetite immediately. Fasting, then, is a way to stand against that as it teaches us to say, "My appetites are not my master. God is."
In a sense, through fasting, every hunger pang can become a prayer.
The old commercials say you're not you when you're hungry. Spiritually, the opposite may be true. When we allow ourselves to hunger for God, we begin to remember who we really are. We are not consumers chasing every satisfaction. We are beloved children of God sustained by the grace of God.
Sometimes an empty stomach can remind us of a full and faithful Savior.
Stay blessed...john
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