Fasting with Students

Last weekend we did our annual 30 Hour Famine event at youth group.  I have done this event three times now and to be honest I went into it with a sour attitude.  I had an upper respiratory infection and didn't feel like going 30 hours without food.  My attitude going into the event was bad because I felt like an oversized balloon filled with hot air and mucus... but I decided to do the event anyways trusting that God would make it amazing like He normally does...


...and He did!  To make a long story short we went through the 30 hours, the students raised over 3,000 dollars for Haiti, and we gathered a van full of canned goods to take to the local food pantry.  All of this was a great accomplishment for our youth and I was extremely proud of them.  But the most humbling moment didn't come until we broke our fast.  After the 30 hours were up we broke our fast with communion.  I wanted to do this to make sure that the students were focusing on Christ before we stuffed our faces.  


We then proceeded to have the most profound, beautiful communion time I have ever had.  We broke bread and drank juice on stomachs that hadn't eaten for 30 hours, and as I looked around the room at our students they were completely focused on the sacrament.  These teens were extremely hungry, and here they were focused on communion.  No one was complaining about how hungry they were or looking back for the food to arrive.  Instead, 50 students were deep in prayer and focus on Jesus while their stomachs were completely empty.  This was a humbling experience for me.  


We are so blessed with so much.  If I counted how many times during the average day that I go to the kitchen and get something to eat I guarantee it would be over fifteen times.  I am always eating or snacking or going to the fridge to get some juice to drink while I watch TV.  Conviction hurts sometimes...and at that moment I felt like someone smacked me across the face.  There was something powerful watching hungry students focus not on food, but on what is really important.  They were the hands and feet of Jesus last weekend, and I have never been more proud to be their youth pastor.  I have also never felt more blessed to eat a meal every day.




Next time you don't feel like doing something...do it anyway.  God has a way of working in spite of our crabby attitudes.



JG