“Christian fasting is a believer’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes. Other types of fasting—despite the benefits they may produce for the mind and body—could not be classified as Christian fasting, and fasting by a non-Christian obtains no eternal value… And fasting is more than just the ultimate crash diet for the body; it is abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.”
– Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
For any true believer, intimacy is not only the greatest marker of a true love but also the actions we take to find ourselves in and before His presence. Whether that be astounding joy or peace that overflows our life and speech, action is always an accomplice to love. So what does fasting have to do with a true love? What I believe, and what I have seen for myself on the race so far, is that fasting is an avenue in which we can actively seek God through the destruction of our flesh. “It is abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.”
Personally, I love food. I just do. I enjoy to see the culture of an area and how it shapes the food that people eat. Some have the intention of survival where in America, we find great fulfillment in isle’s upon isle’s of food. Plus, I don’t think that any of this is wrong or that fasting loses its “power” when the quantity of food is less than. However, the difference to me that is evident, is the intention that fasting can carry in different cultures. Currently, I am finding that the World Race pushes you to rely on a budget that does not provide a platform for my favorite comfort foods from back home. Let me tell you, saying no to Sarita’s “Choco-Cono” (coming in around five Quetzals which is less than a dollar) is not easy. But it’s not just saying no to ice cream for the sake of my budget, even though it is most time, rather, it is for the sake of suffering.
I never had this realization back home. In a consumer culture, satisfaction was efficiently handed to me and I didn’t even notice it. It never occurred to me that eating, in its basic sense, is to fill my stomach, but ultimately, satisfies a craving of my flesh. The hunger of my body, as most of us that read this blog, is not for survival. It is for the satisfaction of our flesh. Also, I don’t want it to be conveyed that hunger is bad and fulfilling it with a BigMac may edge on the side of sin. God has purposed for their to be a feast in Heaven with His Bridegroom in Revelation 19:9 (Hallujah) and uses food as an example for life giving words in Proverbs 16:24. Jesus is even considered to be the bread of life (John 6:35) and the spring of living water (John 14:14) that never leaves you hungry or thirsty. The fulfillment of our hunger, in the right context, can be a beautiful gift from the Lord we thank Him for. So in the case of fasting, with the opportunity to now “voluntarily abstain from food for spiritual purposes,” where do we find ourselves?
I agree, with Whitney, that the most important aspect to fasting is the spiritual purposes in which we seek it out. For the first month of the race we all had our phones taken from the morning until night. A technology-fast if you will and I really enjoyed it. But this even, though spiritually purposed, cannot be classified as “Christian fasting.” Even in a culture where social media begs for identity and beauty and polished lives, it doesn’t carry the same weight when fasting and here’s why: fasting of the body starves the flesh’s most basic desire. Non-Christians can fast but the one they seek is not the one that we seek. Fasting from food ultimately points us to our Father, regardless of the motivation that gets us there.
It may be out of grave distress or pride, however, the flesh will ALWAYS scream for fulfillment. For us as the bride our Christ, we fast to see those hunger pains dwindle in the power and stature of Jesus Christ. No matter how loud our body of this world may sound, fasting reveals that the Lord is still louder. I would venture to say that fasting, in a way, can reveal to us exactly the pleasure the Lord has for us. That pleasure is totally outside of ourselves and is only subject to the one who loves us. How beautiful is it that He speaks equally the same when comforted by our favorite meal and solely water at times? The eternal weight that our heart posture carries in fasting is enormous. God speaks in our suffering.
Even more so, we see that suffering can bring an overwhelming sense of appreciation and declaration of our God. To that every event passes through the hand of God can cause us to question the goodness of God and His presence of our lives. But, the Cross will forever be the shining moment that shouts over all our questions and doubts of who He is. Likewise, “When sorrows like sea billows roll…It is well with my soul.” When Horatio Spafford wrote “It is Well,” all His family had died on a ship crossing the Atlantic. We as Christians have a God that allows us to live through challenges and walk us through them. He is a God that knows where we come from and has compassion on us(Psalm 103:14). When we fast, He acknowledges and knows the purging we are bringing for His glory and our subsequent joy.
That, to me, is a gift from the Lord to experience. As Christians, we have the opportunity to sit through suffering, for a little while, so that we can grow closer to the Lord. When fasting and starving our flesh of its basic desires, we are literally killing our flesh (Romans 8:12-14). In Romans 8, verses four and five speak of living in the Spirit. Christ has already done the work for us who walk in the Spirit, so we no longer have to walk in the flesh FOR, the Spirit indwells our bodies and gives life (verse 11). This excites me because I get to know the spirit better when my stomach begins to ache and grumble. When all I want to do is just eat, the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, is giving me life. He still loves me and graces me with the opportunity to set my face on Him.
In the triumphant and down-trodden of life, I always will have the ability to sit at the footstool of the Lord, hungry, yet satisfied. If that’s not an upside down kingdom, then I don’t know what is.
