When I swim, I sink like a rock.

I’d like to think it’s because I’m a solid mass of muscle. Isn’t it common knowledge fat floats and muscle sinks. ;)

But lately I’ve been trying to counteract that tendency. I’ve been going to the local swim club to improve my swimming technique.

One of the biggest hurdles I’ve encountered is how terrible my breathing becomes when I start to get tired. I can feel my body tense up. I start to panic. The mechanics of my stroke start to change. Overall, everything about what I know to do starts collapsing.

So often we can get overwhelmed with life.

You can’t find a job. You don’t know how you’ll pay the bills. The kids are driving you crazy. A past relationship is throwing you in a frenzy. You’ve been breathing from your reserve oxygen tank, but you sense it’s starting to run out.

It’s getting harder to breathe. You’re losing faith and trust in God.

But you know what was interesting about my swim practice the other day? You’d think my breathing would become more labored as I progressively got more tired. But it actually improved.

The reason?

I got better at staying calm when I got tired. I kept myself together instead of collapsing. I remembered to breathe.

That’s exactly what God wants us to do when we feel overwhelmed, confused or in a world of chaos. To remember to breathe.

But not on our own.

God wants us to increase our capacity to breathe through Him.

Rather than struggle and fight through a seeming lack of oxygen, we need to realize we have a God who will breathe for us.

Daniel 10:17-18 (NIV)
…My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”

¹⁸ Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength.

Just as I learned to breathe when I wanted to panic, we need to learn to rely on God whenever our current situation has us scrambling for breathe. We need to learn to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and say “God, I trust you” with my current situation. (Click to tweet.)

When you want to quit, learn to take a deep breath, exhale and say “God, I trust you.” Deep breath. Exhale. “God, you are the source of my strength.”

Photo courtesy of ontwerpplus.

A year later and nothing has changed. I still hate fasting.

But this year I’m trying something different.

What’s the purpose of fasting? To me, there’s two components of a fast.

1. Denying your physical needs/temptations so that you can . . .
2. Be more intentional about seeking God.

The problem I’ve experienced with myself over the past seven years of fasting is that I spend an overwhelming amount of time focused on #1.

What type of fast am I going to do? Daniel, liquids, water-only? Full, partial? Am I going to incorporate a non-food fast like social media? And then 99% of my fast is focused on trying to find fast-approved recipes, avoiding social media and honoring the fast I’ve chosen.

But what’s the missing piece?

Seeking God.

Whoops.

There’s a lot of intentionality about the type of fast, but none when it came to how I’m going to seek God more. How do I always lose sight of that? I have no idea, but it’s so easy to let what you’re fasting completely overshadow why you’re fasting.

The hope is that what you’re fasting provides more margin in your life to seek God. Whether that be an extra meal during the day or time saved not on social media or watching TV. But, more than I care to admit, God doesn’t generally get that extra time.

Which is why I’m reverse fasting this year.

What’s a reverse fast?

Instead of focusing on #1 first, I’m going to focus on #2. Reverse the priorities. Instead of figuring out what I’m not going to eat, I’m going to figure out how to seek God more. How can I give him more of my day?

So this year, I’ve decided to do the following:

• Morning (15 minutes): Read a devotional from My Utmost For His Highest. Marinate on it.
• Lunch (30 minutes): Come home for lunch (no eating out). Before eating, spend this time praying for people in my life.
• After Work (30 minutes): 15 minutes of personal prayer/worship. 15 minutes of listening for God’s voice.
• Before Bed (15 minutes): Read from my chronological reading plan.

And I won’t be doing any type of food-related fast.

Instead, I’ve looked at my normal daily routine and identified areas that waste time. So instead of food, I’ll be fasting from these time wasting activities. Time I can then give to God.

• Hitting the snooze button. Seriously, I waste 30 minutes a morning.
• Watching TV shows on Netflix before bed. Easily saves 1 to 1.5 hours.

So there you have it. My reverse fast. I feel this change puts the priority and focus back on the right thing (God).

How about you? What’s been your experience with fasting? How do you structure yours?

Have you ever wondered what it means to be a disciple of Christ?

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) tells us to go make disciples. But what exactly is a disciple? I asked myself that recently and went on a quest to find out. Turns out if you search the Bible for the phrase “my disciple” you get some amazing results.

Here are four characteristics of a disciple along with some questions to ponder.

Bear Much Fruit

John 15:4,8 (NIV)
⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Do people look at your life and want to pick your fruit?

That question sounds kind of like the start of a lame pick-up line, but it’s valid here. ;)

Would people want to eat the fruit of encouragement they see from your life? Would they see how you’re slow to speak and quick to listen and want that fruit in their life?

Or would they take a bite from the fruit of your life (e.g., pride, selfishness) and want to spit it out immediately?

Love One Another

John 13:34-35 (NIV)
³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Have you been demonstrating the love of Christ to the co-worker who annoys the crap out of you? Are you cussing people out, flipping them the bird when they piss you off on the road?

Remain Faithful to Jesus’ Teachings

John 8:31 (NLT)
³¹ Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.

Being “faithful to my teachings” means put it into practice. Consistently.

James 1:22 (NIV)
²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Can you honestly say the Word of God regularly impacts your life? Or that you even read the Bible regularly, let alone have it consistently affect your actions?

Are you quick to obey Jesus’ teachings? Even when it’s uncomfortable and seemingly not beneficial to you?

Follow Jesus

Luke 9:23 (NIV)
²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Following Jesus is not a casual decision (cf. Luke 14:25-35).

Are you willing to leave behind and give up everything in pursuit of Jesus? Even your spouse, your family or your own personal success?

So, Are You a Disciple?

These four characteristics really gave me some tangible things to think about. Do I demonstrate these characteristics in my life?

I hope they did the same for you.

What do you think about this list? Anything missing? What’s it mean for you to be called a disciple?