It’s become shockingly clear to me that my heart’s natural trajectory is away from God.
My heart’s natural inclination is towards hardness and bitterness. The hardships and disappointments of life do not yield a tender heart. The natural trajectory of my habits point towards that which is most self-serving and easiest.
This is just my nature.
Before you gasp. I think your heart might be inclined this way too. Consider Jeremiah 17:9 which reads:
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
If this is true, we need something to shake us up periodically. We need something to stir our hearts and get us back on track.
We need…. a reset button.
There are a few things in life that can function like a reset button, but I think fasting can be the most profound.
Counter to the rest of the time, when we fast, we are denying ourselves of basic pleasures in life and refuse to be satisfied with simple earthly things so we can intentionally focus on being satisfied with God. In other words, when we fast, we are moving in the opposition direction of our natural inclination. And yes, it’s uncomfortable.
Many consider fasting when something big is taking place- a crisis, a disaster, a dire need. Those are all excellent reasons to fast, but we don’t need wait for those! We are all in danger of falling asleep at the wheel of life and drifting off into bitterness, complacency, selfishness, self-dependency and away from God. When we consider this, it makes perfect sense why God prescribed fasting to be an annual occurrence for the Israelites. Fasting was to be a part of normal life, because God knows the tendencies of our heart.
Joel 2:12 says, “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Let us wake up.
Let us reset and fast.
