tacos and God

Although I did not entirely adhere strictly to the 21 day Daniel fast this last past week,  (Had one cheat day and pretty much ended it early), it was still meaningful in my prayer and devotional time.

There is nothing like just having that personal devotional time at the end of the day with Jesus that I would so much look forward to. 

So have I been transformed?  I’m not sure. 

Physically, I learned to eat a little healthier and would probably continue some form of the Daniel fast for good health reasons.  Spiritually, I will definitely continue that devotional time.  I feel like I learned to listen God’s voice a little bit  more and maybe handle the stress better and worry a little less.

So if you’ve been following along in my previous posts this month, you’ve heard my cries for authentic Mexican food and my craving for a really good street taco.   In the three short years, I’ve lived in Hawaii, I’ve come to the conclusion that true authentic Mexican food is hard to come by living on the island.  There may be a place here or there that might come close, but not quite to the full taste.  No matter where I went, there was nothing that would be able to satisfy my craving.   I could probably make it myself if I had the right ingredients, like when I made pazole, but it never had the same taste.   I knew the only way I could be satisfied would be to go back to California and have it there.  So that’s what I did.   My quest  for my taco finally came to an end yesterday after I had the most amazing  al pastor and carnitas taco at the LA street market while on my visit to California.   And now you know the reason why I had to end my fast early.  It just had to be done.  The moment my lips touched the tortilla and my mouth wrapped around the taco in that  first bite, I knew this taste was different from what I had in a long time.  I knew this was the real deal.  I knew I had finally come home.  I ate slowly, relishing every spicy, tasty bite, continued to give thanks up above with every swallow.  As I felt the food settle into my stomach, the satiety level arose in my heart, truly a religious experience. 

What do you crave?  There are a lot of things in life, we may crave.    We may crave food, money, new clothes, house, attention, recognition.   All of these things may satisfy but only temporarily.  I used to have a chronic craving called addiction to alcohol.    Then I wondered. God sent me on this taco pilgrimage  (yes, I was on a mission from God to quote the Blue’s brothers movie line) to ask the question,  Do I crave God like I crave that taco?   

Tacos and the Christian life? Just hear me out.   God sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins so that we my spend eternity with him.  Until that day,  we  are left to deal with just living in the world.  The struggles of the world and daily strife get us down.   We get discouraged, tired and frustrated by the hurts of this imperfect world or our very own imperfect selves.     We may reach for something to cope, things we crave like food, money, alcohol but they only temporarily satisfy.    Jesus is the only one who can truly satisfy. 

‘Jesus replied, anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.  But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again’ John 4:13 

Also, as we become more Christ like, we may not exactly fit in with the norms of the world. We long to be in Christ’s presence but we won’t truly be with him until we go to our home in the sky.   We find Jesus in our daily walk, but we will never quite get the full taste of heaven until that very day.

So we are left here to deal with all this stuff, but God did not leave us without  help.   He left us with the recipe for living a Christ full life now in what we call the Bible.    All we have to do is look for the ingredients.  

‘It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (Matthew 4:4) 

We all have a spiritual craving that most of us reach for temporary solutions for.  I was reaching for drugs and alcohol, but that could never fill the emptiness I had inside. 

 Jesus is the only one that could truly satisfy.   God has called us to be loved by him  and  for him. We were made to crave God.  Am I seeking the true ingredients to live this life? And have the  taco of a full Christian life?  I hope so.  And I will continue to crave His presence daily until I have my taco in the sky.    -hopefulgirl, sober for 2 years and 6 months.