My Worlds Collide

It's so hard to live for God in this country. 

 Your comfort is so important here. 

 -  Pastor Tucker Walugega

Tucker is a dear friend, a gifted preacher and leader, a father, and a husband, but mostly a wild

 Jesus loving, God seeking, Spirit filled man.

Tucker just spent several days with us.  He spent 3 solid days of his time here fasting from food and drink.  Yes, you read correctly...he did not drink a drop for 3 solid days.  I was distraught to say the least.  This Esther Fast, as he called it, went against every hostess and comfort and American bone in my body.

I know we are called to fast and to pray, but we have even made that pretty comfortable most times.  We give up sugar or social media, or maybe coffee or pop, but this man fasted from food and water for 3 days.

He did not flaunt his fasting he only told me so that I knew why he wouldn't be joining us to eat.

Matthew 6:16New International Version 

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

He would come out of his room and pray with us in the evenings and act like everything was completely normal.  I was observing him like a hawk and making sure he was in his right mind. 

 He was strong and focused and full of life.

 He said the Lord keeps him strong when he does this.

 He has been doing this fast as often as God lays it on his heart, and he has been in the practice of doing it for 15 years.

 His goal in fasting is to be obedient to the word of God, and to seek the Lord and his presence in his life.

 As he denies and tunes out his flesh, he tunes into the Holy Spirit that lives in him and he is tuned into God's voice. 

 His family and his ministry team seek the Lord individually and as a team even when they are half a world away.

  His wife was fasting right along side him, but she was in Uganda. 

 That is just plain dedication, discipline, and crazy love for the Lord and for one another.

Tucker was pretty quiet for 3 days other than praying.  Sometimes praying with us, sometimes by himself and sometimes over the phone with his wife and with others that needed prayer, but very quiet other than praying.  When I would check on him,

* because I was a total wreck*

he would be fine and never uttered a complaint. 

The thing that just challenged me equally to the 3 days without food and fluid was the fact that he was pretty still for 3 days.  We can live without food and water for 3 days, but we think the world can not live without us for 3 days.  To just step out of the flow of life and seek the Lord day after day after day is so foreign and weird to me.  I get caught up in thinking that the world might stop spinning if I'm not engaged every moment or at least every day.

 So many things will be accomplished in his life and in his ministry and in his family's life because he has been quiet and praying and seeking the Lord.  He accomplished more by seeking the Lord and listening and studying the Word of God than if he had worked his head off night and day for those 3 days.

On the 4th day, Tucker got up and drank hot water with honey in it and then finally ate some food.

GLORY TO GOD!!!

  I felt relief for him and for me. :)

I was so afraid he might die or go into kidney failure on my watch.  I had no idea how to explain this to God or the authorities....kinda kidding kinda not.  

The thing that challenged me and blessed me was that he does this often, but he does it in our country, in our culture, in his country, in his culture...wherever and whenever he happens to be when God calls him to do it.

He was humble and gracious as we kept the kitchen in high production the whole time, and he never wavered.

  He could use the excuse that it is a bit extreme for American culture, but he understands and realizes that whether he is here in America or in Uganda or in China he is an alien in this world. 

 He is a follower of Jesus Christ, and he is a citizen of heaven and that is the culture and the country he conforms to. 

Philippians 3:17-21The Message (MSG)

17-19 Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.

20-21 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

I asked for Tucker's permission to share this, he humbly consented, as he does not do it for attention or praise for himself.  He is a teacher and an example of how to live and is willing to be used to encourage others.  He gives all the praise and glory to God and wants others to experience the presence of  the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Romans 12:1English Standard Version (ESV)

A Living Sacrifice

12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.