Fasting Day 13 of 40 | Third Wednesday of Lent
“Your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell during these forty years.” Deuteronomy 8:4
During the time of testing in the wilderness God sustained His people with manna and their clothing and shoes did not wear out.
Dallas Willard comments on this in The Divine Conspiracy. He writes. “It is significant that not only were needs for food in the desert met by the direct action of God, but also needs for clothing and shoes. The Israelites wore the same shoes and clothing, continuously renewed by God, for forty years (Deut. 8:4). That was a fundamental part of the training they received in kingdom living.”
Dallas Willard (1935-2013) in The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) p. 197.
That’s what Lent is for: training for kingdom living. We block forty days to give, pray, and fast so God can teach us things for life after Lent.
Think about our need for training. The world fills us with fear of the future. This limits our giving. We struggle to find solitude to have space for prayer. And the world tells us to appease our desires, which is the opposite of fasting. All the world offers leaves us unsatisfied and needy. But like He sustained His people for forty years, when we give, pray, and fast over forty days, He trains us to trust in His faithful care.
God, teach me to trust you to sustain and satisfy me. Amen.
As we start week three of Lent, think about which of the three disciplines you find it most hard to practice in Lent. Ask God for help. And talk to a trusted person and ask how they make practice that discipline to learn.