Reflection from Daniel - Better and Fatter in Flesh

I had just finished reading the book of Daniel. And this time round, while reading it, I saw so many things that I had never read before. Somehow, I read the words but didn't realise what is there. 

Have you ever experienced that while reading the precious Word of God? 

Somehow, you read the words, read many different translations of the same verse even. Knowing what the words are, what the verse said, what the verse meant. And yet NOT realising what it says or means.

Now when one thinks of the prophet or the book of Daniel, these three things almost immediately would come to mind:

1) Daniel in the lion's den

2) His 3 friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, in the fiery furnace. 

3) Daniel Fast

Source: Internet

God-incidentally, I had started fasting the first day I started reading Daniel. (Mere coincidence, I hadn't planned on it.)

On my first day of fasting (I was fasting a meal), I thought to myself, "I'm going to lose some weight at the end of this fast." Come on now, be honest, surely you must have thought something similar while fasting. It IS a side benefit of fasting, after all. 

But as soon as I thought that, instantly, a voice said to me - Daniel was fatter and healthier during and after his fast. 

Yes, that's what the Bible says - he restrained from the king's delicacies and choice food yet he was even better looking than all others who partook of the king's food. 

I almost laughed out loud to myself at that revelation. 

I couldn't help chuckling to myself as I talked to my God, "So, this is how You have designed fasting to be? During my fast, and after I end my fast, I will look better, healthier and well, rounder maybe?"

I told my Lord, "Lord, I would like to look slim though. But if looking better means better horizontally, then well, I guess I will have to accept it."

(Now, I can understand it will be that much harder to embrace this truth for young girls. I understand because I myself was very much physical conscious once. But with years and age, and with my Father's grace, I have learned to accept and love myself better. So I am not saying that it is wrong or bad to wish to lose some unhealthy weight through fasting. I am simply sharing a revelation that my God showed me in my fast.)

That afternoon as I was reading Daniel 1, I was again amused by my Father's sense of humour. 

“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

You read what I read here? 

Their features appeared better and fatter in flesh. 

The MSG version is funnier - They looked better and more robust. Yes, you read correctly, ROBUST! 

The ESV version puts it like this in plain, standard English - They were better in appearance and fatter in flesh. 

The NLT uses a different description - They looked healthier and better nourished. 

Hahaha! 

Oh well oh well. 

So, now beloved in Christ, if you are like me, hoping to reap some physical benefits in your looks from a fast, remember what the Bible tells us about Daniel and his friends who ate only vegetable and water. 

Here let me list them again - Better, fatter in flesh, more robust, healthier, better nourished. 

I am now still on a fast, as my church is currently on a 40-day prayer and fast season. I don't know if I'll lose some pounds on the weighing scale at the end of the fast (or if I'll put on some). 

But one thing I know, I will surely look better in appearance and be healthier. 

Truly our Father's kingdom is an upside down kingdom. 

To live, you have to die. 

To be exalted, you have to be humble. 

To lead, you have to serve. 

And in the ways of fasting, the world's system is that when you fast, you lose weight. When you diet/ cut down on food/ cut down on calorie etc., yes, you lose those weight. 

But, as we have read, when you fast the Lord's way, you might not lose those weight (may be unfortunate for some 😂). Instead, you will be better in appearance, healthier, better nourished, and yes, perhaps fatter in flesh. 

And I'll gladly welcome it.