Read: Matthew 4:1-11

In 2016, I took on my tasoni friend Laura’s Coptic Orthodox fast, and it was grueling. I had not done adequate meal planning or prepping beforehand, and it came back to bite me. I tired of pita and hummus, carrots and hummus, veggie burgers, and tofu dogs before too long, and all I wanted was a gosh darn tuna sandwich from Subway with a massive handful of pickles. (This was, of course, before Subway’s tuna was shown to be… well… NOT tuna.)

I was talking to Laura about it one day (OK fine… I was whining), and she explained to me that this fast was for *ME* and that I could stop it if it was hurting me. She also promised to send me something to help me out.

A few minutes later, an invitation to the “Recipes for the Coptic Fast” Facebook group popped up in my messages. In this group, I found ideas for meals, commiseration on how sick people were getting of eating French fries, and tips for converts doing the fast for the first time. While I did end up having to break my fast for health reasons, having this wealth of information and the community of like-minded people made the rest of my fast bearable.

It was for this reason that I absolutely understand why it is pointed out in Scripture that after 40 days, Jesus was hungry. Our hunger pangs can cloud our judgment, and I absolutely understand why Satan led with that test. It would have taken a supernatural amount of strength to resist it. Jesus had that strength as the Son of God, but we can help others bear temptations like that when we join together as a community.

Gracious God, help us to band together to enable others to bear their temptations. Amen.
-Jen McCabe