Blessings of the fast

Today's reading in A Place at the Table:
Day Five

By Jesi Chinn
Youth and Music Ministry Volunteer

Hello PBF! It is Day 5 of our 40-day journey and my husband, Pastor Andy Chinn, and I are already feeling challenged and blessed.

If you have spent time with either of us you know that pizza and ice cream make up the foundation of our food pyramid. We are struggling to not indulge! However, we are deeply grateful for this opportunity. Going through A Place at the Table has illustrated a powerful context and our desire for peanut butter chocolate ice cream is eclipsed by our desire to better serve God and identify with His children in humble circumstances.

 Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. ?
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. "
       Luke 6: 20-23

This passage has been present in our hearts and minds these last couple days. While we familiarize ourselves with the poor, we find that we are really familiarizing ourselves more with God’s blessings. It is when we are without, that Jesus, our daily bread, truly satisfies and nourishes us.

Even as we sacrifice our cravings and our excess, we see God continue to provide for us in extravagant ways. We notice the luxuries still so apparent when we consider our brothers and sisters in poverty. I easily grab my electric rice maker, put in as much rice and water as I wish, at any time of day, push start, and dish up in a half hour. I think of Ruth in Haiti, how she and her family must collect water, gather fuel for a fire, start the fire, tend the pot, and ration their rice, not even sure if there will be enough for everyone to have some. Andy and I have a difficult time focusing on our class assignments because our stomachs are hungry and our heads are light. We are reminded of Irene in Uganda and how she lacks access to education. I package up our leftover rice and put it in the refrigerator so it does not go bad. Leftover rice is probably not something with which Irene or Ruth are familiar, let alone concern over rice not being kept properly.

These luxuries we enjoy are blessings from God, yet these children and their families may experience Jesus in a way we might never have. They look at Jesus’ promises— that the kingdom of heaven is theirs, that they will laugh, that they will be satisfied, that their reward in heaven is great—and may see them with more hope than we have ever known. Their rejoicing and gladness over their reward in heaven may be more joyous than we have experienced in our physical abundance. As we continue, we know that God will reward our forsaking of temporal pleasures. Blessings unique from those we have previously experienced will be ours.

You all are in our prayers and we praise our Lord with you for we know, as we hunger now, we will be satisfied.