October 12-18

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Fasting is Not About Food 

Do you feel like you’re doing everything right but find yourself overwhelmed with your own burdens? Do you feel like you’re doing everything the Lord wants you to do, but He is silent and not noticing? 

Because the Lord has a response for you chapter 58. There are many ways that the Lord responds to these kinds of questions and feelings, so internalize this message with wisdom. He may be speaking to you, or maybe He sent this message to me this week because it was exactly what I needed to hear.

So the Lord starts out Isaiah chapter 58 with a plea to Isaiah. He asks His prophet to call the people to repentance. They “seek (Him) daily” and “forsook not the ordinance of their God.” In other words, they do what the gospel tells them to do. They go through the motions and ordinances of the gospel. But despite this, the Lord had commanded Isaiah to preach repentance to them.

The people don’t like that very much so in verse 3, we find a response from them and then another response from the Lord.

Isaiah 58:3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 

The people are like, “Hey! We fast! Why don’t you notice that? We suffered, and you refuse to see it.” And the Lord responds with, “On your fasting day, you’re still seeking after your own pleasure.” The chapter continues on calling them out for fasting and purposefully suffering or for seeking themselves. That is not the fast the Lord has chosen. He didn’t ask us to fast so that we could afflict our souls. 

He asks us to fast to change us. 

Isaiah 58:6-7

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 

The Lord didn’t ask the Israelites to fast for funsies. It’s not about making His people suffer. As always, the Lord’s commandments are FOR us, not to punish us or make us appear righteous. The Lord asked them to fast to inspire them to be better. He wants them to see what it’s like to be hungry and take care of other people. 

When we fast correctly, the Lord is proud of us, but it’s more than that. We don’t go through the motions and look up for a pat on the head. The idea is to fast, let it change us and help us see the world through an entirely different perspective, and then gratitude springs up spontaneously for the opportunity to see through His eyes. It’s not about suffering enough so He can tell us we can finally go play. It’s about soul-deep satisfaction coming from more important aspects of life. 

This message is not just about fasting. It is an example of a bigger problem for the Israelites. 

I’ve gotten really caught up in my own problems lately. I am hyper-focused on the stressors we’re facing, and my worries have definitely been dragging down. I keep trying to have faith, and while I think the Lord is pleased with me for that, it hasn’t always been effective. I still end up worried again after my mini-spiritual breakthroughs where the Lord assures me.

On Sunday, the Spirit whispered to me thatI was doing it wrong. Instead of focusing on trying to be okay with my own stress, I simply need to focus on someone else. My eyes should be looking for others who need encouragement. One of the most effective ways to free myself from carrying the burden of my own problems is to focus on helping someone else carry theirs. I know this but seem to forget it often. 

So I pleaded with the Lord to send someone for me to serve. I didn’t want to focus on me anymore. I wanted to change and turn outwards because I wanted to be like Him. Despite everything on my plate that already feels like it’s swallowing me whole, I asked for more service.

That’s when the Lord opened my eyes a second time. 

I didn’t need new service opportunities. To be perfectly honest, a majority of my life is spent in service right now between mothering, being a wife, sharing my testimony online, and regular church service. I have plenty of service opportunities already. I have plenty of people who need me already.

Like the Israelites, I was seeking Him daily, and I wasn’t forsaking the ordinances. Unfortunately, I was simultaneously fixated on myself. I was still seeking after my own pleasure in the midst of “fasting” and doing everything I was supposed to be doing.

I feel like He sends me this message a lot. You would think I’d learn my lesson, but I take comfort in the fact that He repeated this lesson to Israel and they struggled with it too.

This is not the fast that He chose for me. He chose a fast where I am legitimately investing myself into others, not just checking off a list. I find it especially powerful that the Lord states at the end of those verses, “hide not thyself from thine own flesh.” Heaven knows I’ve been doing everything required of me, but I’ve also been sneaking away and hiding in my room to try and get a grip on my own stress and worries. I was literally hiding from my own flesh to try and get a break!

That’s not to say it’s not appropriate to take breaks or that we should completely lose ourselves. The true difference is that we need to stop seeking after ourselves. That path gets us nowhere. It doesn’t help anyone. Nobody feels better including yourself! My kids can feel that I’m distracted and trying to hide from them, and I get wrapped up in my own problems. 

This is not the fast that He chose for me. It could be easy to say, “He wanted so much more FROM me,” and to feel more overwhelmed. I think it is just as accurate to say, “He wanted so much more FOR me.” 

I testify that Christ wants us to invest our hearts. He gave us commandments and fasting and ordinances, but not as an end-product. He gave us those things so we could change and find joy. I testify that everything Christ gives is to bring about His ultimate purpose of our eternal joy. Follow Him! Lose yourself in service to Him and others. It is so joyful.