Written by Rev. Amy Sword, AIM – Finland
Strength for the long journey doesn’t come from sugar—it comes from Bread.
There are things you only learn with time, and one of the most important lessons I’ve learned while serving on AIM is this: when the dust settles, the honeymoon phase is over, and the calling changes from a sprint to a marathon, you must know how to feed yourself. Just like the body needs vegetables, meat, fruit, and water to remain strong, the spirit requires its own kind of food: prayer, the Word, fasting, and worship. This may be basic (it kinda is), but it’s a lesson the Alphins teach and emphasize in their leadership, and it’s essential. Not “extra” or a side dish, but foundational.
Being in a small city with very few believers has driven home the fact that I can’t rely on someone else to hand-feed me revelation. I must sit with Jesus until He speaks. I must pray until He changes me. I can’t just read the Word for information, but for transformation. It is in this daily relationship that the spiritual muscles are fed and built.
As we grow, our appetite shifts. We don’t just want to be filled—we want to be nourished. For those serving, leading, and bearing responsibility in the Kingdom (um, all of us), the deeper truth is this: We must learn to feed ourselves before hunger comes. Waiting until you’re starving is too late. In the wilderness, the manna had to be gathered daily.
However, true nourishment doesn’t just involve eating the right foods, but also keeping the wrong ones out. We must guard what we allow into our spirits because not all food is good food. We need to ask the question, “Does this nourish me?” Like the Book of Proverbs teaches, not every voice should be heard and not every influence welcomed. As the saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out.” Paul said it plainly: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.” (1 Corinthians 10:23)
Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life and the Living Water for a reason. He is the meal that fills and sustains. We have to choose what we’re going to eat. We have to train our spirit to crave what brings life. When we do, we grow stronger, steadier, and more connected to God than ever before. We can’t afford to be spiritually malnourished in a world that desperately needs the Bread of Life.
Amy Sword serves as an “integrated,” long-term (lifer) Associate in Missions alongside her husband, Philip, and their three daughters, in Forssa, Finland.