Psalm 62:5 “I depend on God alone; I put my hope in Him.” GNT

I searched my messages for the keyword “coffee” this morning. The results really shouldn’t have been surprising, but the number did cause me to give pause. 1,127! I’ve mentioned or had conversations about coffee 1,127 times… and that’s just electronically. 

So if we’ve ever had a conversation or communicated in anyway, chances are, coffee has come up as a topic. I thought about the last few gifts and nice gestures I’ve received... 95% of them have been coffee related! That’s a real committed relationship with coffee.

No wonder I find myself weak, achy, tired and unable to get out of bed this morning. This week has been extremely tough for me. I figured I would be fine after about 3 or 4 days into the fast, but on day 6, I feel like my entire body is shutting down. Caffeine addiction is real and so are the pains of withdrawal. Being unable to function normally gave me no other choice but to lay in bed and talk with God. As I whined and complained to him about the fast for the week, a deep conviction fell over my spirit. What if I depended on God like I depend on coffee? What if every morning, every conversation, every decision was centered around God? What if I was so dependent on God that if I went just a few hours without Him… if I didn’t wake up and immediately call on him… if I didn’t read my word on a consistent basis, everything would shut down and I wouldn’t be able to function? I’m sure I’d avoid so many other struggles in my life.

As I lay here, I have to admit that that’s not the case. I don’t depend on God like I depend on coffee. Although I know I love Him. I know that I value my time with Him and try to have those Kairos moments with him everyday. Realistically, some days, that doesn’t happen. If I can be honest, life doesn’t stop for me when I miss those sacred moments with God. My dependence on God is not life altering.

I know many people think that can’t really relate to my coffee struggle, but we all have our own personal “coffee struggle”. We all have something in our lives that we commit to more than we commit to God. It may be our work or hobbies. It may be our families or friends. It may be material things or even our phone that we’d turn around in traffic to go back to get if we ever left it.

I challenge us all to seek to grow closer to God during this time of fasting. Allow Him to reveal to us those things that we depend on more than we depend on Him. As we fast from those things that distract us from God and take on those things that draw us nearer to Him, let the suffering not be in vain. Fasting is never easy, but God is working in lives and in our hearts during this time. Will you choose to depend completely and solely on Him? Not only during this fast, but for the ability to live and breathe and function everyday of your life?

Heavenly Father, thank you for being so loving and patient with me as you call me to dependence on you. God forgive me for all the times that I didn’t put you first and set you to the side to focus on other things. Help me to depend on you. In Jesus’ name. Amen

By: Min April Carter