I don’t know if people want this kind of sunshine from us (aw heck, SURE you do!)… but there are many, many positives to this pandemic. Have you considered them at all?
- Your family is together! Like, all the time! Don’t you spend a lot of money every year to just make that happen? Because you want to make space for a situation where there’s lots of down time for your family to just enjoy one another and make great new memories? (Yes.) Just today, it was 80º (even though snow is forecast for next week) so we pulled out the kiddie pool and had fun in the front yard!
- You’re getting your head around the merits (and challenges) of homeschooling. This can of course be frustrating, but I had a great time with my 5th grader today working on a dinosaur project. We learned and created together! Hooray!
- Your kids are outside a lot (right?)… time for walking and bike riding and shooting basketballs etc. because none of the regular activities are going on. Euphoria! (Don’t tell anybody I said this… but it’s like the old days… except that the kids aren’t supposed to mingle… huge bummer.)
- You DO have time to exercise, and garden, and those other home-based hobbies you always mean to get around to eventually… if only you’ll stay ON IT and not see this as some kind of extended vacation.
But the result I’m MOST excited about in the face of quarantine and pandemic and all the hysteria (Fellas… just stay off news and social media. That’s my advice. You’ll sleep SO much better at night. And trust me, you’re not going to miss any Crucial News Items. They will find their way to you) is the fact that SPIRITUAL HUNGER IS AWAKENING!
I’m hearing so many wonderful stories of people worshipping, praying in groups, seekers asking good questions, and just a general interest in big questions like “Now… WHAT is life about, again? And… WHAT is my family about, again?” etc. I’m hearing about people coming to Jesus, people renewing their long-neglected faith, people seeking our church communities (if only online… but that’s a start!), and searching out the Bible and other spiritual books. It’s exciting! This week my girls and I wrote out the word PRAY! On our sidewalk to try to throw a little homegrown fuel on the fire for our neighborhood dog and kid-walkers.
In that vein, there’s also been FASTING BUZZ in our cities… whether from the Jews that we love in Ohio or the Mormons in Utah who’ve been asked to take a fasting day on Friday. My family fasted when the President called for a National Day of Prayer regarding COVID-19 and we were excited to do so.
So how about a little fasting review/overview? Whether fasting is an ancient practice you’ve dialed into in the past or is something you’re considering for the first time, it IS a pretty NORMAL practice, Biblically. In these days of lax, me-centered spirituality, personal spiritual disciplines have become rarer, but for those of us who do desire nearness to God, fasting will ALWAYS be a deep well.
I personally never understood what fasting was, growing up; I thought it was for Buddhist mystics or monks, or just people who felt guilty toward God, so fasting was some kind of penance. Then I met a Vietnamese Christian in college named Quan Hoang (what a great guy… and what a name!); my whole concept changed regarding what being “sold out” could look like. He was serious and zealous in ways I’d never seen before: Praying through the night, forsaking dating out of devotion to Christ, regular fasting, etc. His ardor for God radically challenged (and kind of frightened) me. Over time, seeing the fruit that his self-forsaking ways produced, I realized that…
fasting is a spiritual tool that leads to intimacy,
the suppression of the flesh,
and the promotion of the Spirit.
So, to expound on those a bit, fasting is first of all an option. Just like prayer is, or Bible reading, or whatever. It’s an option. Sometimes God TELLS people to do it, but lots of times they just do it because they want to draw near to God. There are many examples, so I’ll just link to 2 Samuel 12:21-23, Daniel 9:3, Psalm 35:13, and Acts 14:23. Fasting tells your flesh to SHUT UP (and exercises your will muscles to that end!), and puts your spiritual life front and center.
Fasting is just a dedicated period of time, anywhere from one day to 40 days (! I’ve never done this but know those who have), when you set aside food, some kinds of food (the “Daniel fast” has become popular recently), or food and water both (I just recently tried this for the first time with Lou Engle’s “Esther fast”… it was a cool experience) and dedicate yourself to concentrated prayer. When fasting, we’re saying “My body’s cravings will not rule over me (Romans 13:14, 6:12-13, and 1 Corinthians 6:12 and 9:27). In my life the spirit supersedes the flesh, and in these days in particular I’m training against that stance!”
A main reason to fast (and it’s what I’ve been about of late; I’m aiming to fast one day a week for as long as the crisis lasts, and this will be the thrust of my prayers. Join me in this?) is for cleansing or repentance. America has, by and large, given God a big middle finger, growing increasingly brazen in that posture over my lifetime. We’re like some weird, uncanny valley version of 2 Timothy 3 come to life: Whether it’s our sexual misconduct, irreligious culture, or simply the fear, accusation, and division in our nation, we are far from God. I want to apologize to God for myself, as well as for my people, and get on His page. Again, lots of passages to pick from, but let’s go with Joel 1:14, Matthew 4:2, Psalm 109:24, and Luke 18:12 as references for how normal this is in a God-centric life.
You may also notice that fasting can expose corners of your spiritual life that are more based on religious practice or rules than they are based on real, face-to-face intimacy with God. A fast is a fantastic way to strip off all the trappings of church life and see what’s actually going on between the two of you.
“We have fasted before you,” they say. “Why aren’t you impressed? Why don’t you see our sacrifices? Why don’t you hear our prayers?”… I’ll tell you why! Because you are living in evil pleasure even while you are fasting… [I want you to] you stop oppressing those who work for you and treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and bring right into your own homes those who are helpless, poor, and destitute. Clothe those who are cold, and don’t hide from relatives who need your help… If you do these things, God will shed his own glorious light upon you. He will heal you… goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then, when you call, the Lord will answer. “Yes, I am here,” he will quickly reply.
Isaiah 58:3-9
Some instructions/tips based on Isaiah 58:
- Be gracious and peaceful with those around you (this is hard! I feel cranky and hungry, people!)
- Be focused especially on God’s heart and His Kingdom while you fast. This is between you and God.
- Look for opportunities to give food and money. Ask people what THEIR needs are. Share. Donate clothes. Etc.
Some warnings:
- You might deal with your emotions more when fasting. Personally, I become impatient more than anything else. I have a short fuse because my comfort-center (GOD’S DELICIOUS FOODS) isn’t being fulfilled and coddled like it normally is. I expect everyone to magically intuit that I’m fasting so defer to me and be kind to me and make way for me. That’s nuts and brings up my next point:
- Don’t act like you’re fasting! Try to look normal, even good! Don’t be somber or heavy; try to be peppy in front of people. If you want to whine, whine to God in private. That’s what the Master says to do. We’re doing what we’re doing for the LORD, not for recognition, so:
- Don’t let others know what’s going on. This is a private investment between you and God, not a show of spirituality or a play for sympathy. Don’t cheapen it.
- You may deal with pride. Sometimes I’m afraid I’ll break my arm, for how often I want to pat myself on the back: “This is SO hard, and you are SUCH a martyr, and SUCH a Very Holy Man for not eating for a WHOLE DAY! What a wonder you are!” If those feelings come up, just confess them to God, “Sorry God, I am pathetic this way. I need You.” and move on. Don’t get caught up on it long. All kinds of stuff (including the impatience mentioned above) will come out of you, which is good! See it for what it is (IT’S SIN!), confess and renounce it before God, and don’t be moved. Continue.
- You may make a great dedication (“NO FOOD! ONLY WATER! FIVE DAYS!”) and find yourself in a weak moment going to that beckoning fridge and pouring a wonderfully sugary glass of orange juice and not even thinking about it until it’s down your greedy gullet. Again, CONFESS IT AND MOVE ON. Don’t do that “Oh woe woe woe! I hath BROKEN Thy fast, O God! I am undone!” thing. Keep doing the fast. Don’t give up. And don’t fudge on your end time. End when you said you’d end.
Fasting is crazy effective at dealing with our exalted view of ourselves, and our self-centered attitude toward life. We’ll see real quick how needy, stingy, and weak we are when we avoid for just a minute. It promotes Spirit-led life! Since those college days around my kooky friend Quan (at least, he was kooky to me!), I’ve experimented with fasting a lot, in various ways (fasting one day a week from food, extended media fasts, spending fasts, even speaking fasts!)… and I find it helps me to humble myself more than just about anything else. And always remember this most compelling of truths: Jesus saw fasting as a necessary thing in His own life! (Think on THAT one for a bit!)
I have never regretted anything I ever gave up in order to get more on God’s page. And in these paranoid, stressed-out, triggered days of pandemic paranoia, we need to access His plan more and more. Gentlemen, keep your head about you, keep oil in your lamp, pray, worship… and fast!
