Fasting
Post date: Oct 11, 2018 6:52:20 PM
I don't recall ever really hearing or learning about fasting as a child. The only thing that stands out to me is hearing the story of Jesus fasting for 40 days after he was baptized. As a child I understood that to be part of the supernatural nature of Jesus as the Son of God. Our church never discussed fasting that I can remember, and during Lent, there was discussion sometimes of going without, but we never practiced it in our family. For that matter, we didn't really ever discuss church or faith outside of 10-11AM on Sunday mornings, but that's beside the point.
I came to learn much more about fasting as an adult, and not initially as a spiritual endeavor. I'm going to take a little detour here, but that's how most of my journeys have developed.
I was raised on the "food pyramid" diet in the 80's where salt, fat and protein were "the worst" foods for your health and you needed to wolf down fat-free, cholesterol-free grains to ensure that you wouldn't get high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Since both of my parents suffered from both of those conditions, we had high-carb menu in our house. I was overweight with high cholesterol by 7 years old, so my mother, in complete love for me, doubled down on the ultra-high-carb diet.
I tried unsuccessfully since I was 7 years old to lose weight. (Side note: I am blessed by three wonderful children under the age of 10. It is only now that I can realize how crazy it is to need to have a 7 year old on a diet.) I've cumulatively run well over 1,000 miles, ran multiple half-marathons, restricted my calorie intake, gone vegetarian, taken a number of supplements and embarked on some extreme behaviors to try and lose weight. While I've seen some short term results, invariably I would put the weight back on.
I've also been judged countless times for being overweight. In a lot of people's opinion, I just don't have the willpower to eat less and exercise more.To all those people, I say:
"I love you. I forgive you for your judgement. I feel sorry for you that you don't have the perspective to understand the context of other people's suffering and to be supportive instead of hurtful. I pray that you're not overlooking your own shortfalls, especially in regard to health and nutrition. Lastly, I hope that you find the love and support you need when you are facing a challenge and others are judging you."
Thanks to my sister-in-law, I was introduced to literature on some of the science of nutrition, especially in regard to that actual mechanisms of carbohydrate digestion. (Side note: Did you know that carbohydrates are NOT an essential macro-nutrient? You can go your whole life not eating any carbohydrates. In that regard they are the same as alcohol. Oddly enough, you can have the same disorders from carb consumption as alcohol consumption. Google "non-alcoholic fatty liver disease") A long story short:
- all-day carbohydrate consumption leads to excessive insulin production
- excessive insulin production leads to insulin resistance
- insulin resistance leads to even more excessive insulin production
- eventually your pancreas gives out and you get type-2 diabetes
- eventually type-2 diabetes results in the need for injected insulin
Insulin pushes glucose into your cells and keeps your body from burning fat. You can make a skinny, marathon running, healthy person fat by giving them excess insulin. So by feeding a person excess carbohydrates and upping their insulin level you fast track them to being overweight, having high cholesterol & high blood pressure. Thus the epidemic we have of overweight children developing diabetes symptoms. They are eating primarily processed carbohydrates because they are cheap (thank you farm subsidies) and available everywhere.
The conclusion of this detour is that you need to give your body a break from carbohydrates. This used to come naturally when food sources weren't consistent. However, with the development of farming it becomes relatively easy, not to eat too much food, but the wrong types of food.
So as I am learning about some of the fundamentals to my struggles with weight, I come to realize that God had already instructed us to fast, and I was ignorant and closed off to the idea. God has been giving us an instruction manual as we grow and develop as a people. There is reference to fasting in Judges 20:26 "Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord." This idea carries into the New Testament, in Matthew 6:16 "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." Jesus knew that we had been instructed to fast and knew that we knew how to do it. Over time we've lost sight of that, often calling fasting "crazy" or "unsafe," and it can be, if you don't think about how and when you fast. But done correctly, it's exactly the kind of break our bodies need to stay healthy and focused.
In the Didache it tells the early Christians to fast two days a week, which had been a tradition in the Jewish faith, they were just instructed to do it on different days to differentiate themselves from those who hadn't yet come to find salvation in Christ. Additionally, we are told in the Didache to fast before baptism and fast in prayer for ourselves and others, including our enemies.
Fasting is healthy, fasting helps center your mind, fasting helps bring you in more in touch with your body, fasting gives you power over food instead of it having power over you. As a result of my path in life, I need to fast more frequently and for longer durations than most. However, as is always the case with God, He provides valuable lessons and insights through the trials He provides for us. From this particular journey I've discovered that a person can safely fast for weeks with nothing more than water, salt and a multi-vitamin. This has given me some excellent perspective on my power over food, and it also makes me feel closer to understanding what Jesus went through during His 40 day absolute fast and how amazing that is, not including the fact that afterward He demonstrated his power over satan.
If you're interested, there are several fasting resources that can easily be found on the internet or in books. Do some research, talk to your doctor, pray about it. I bet you'll discover that you can very easily and very safely fast. Once you do, I think you'll be surprised at the results, especially if you pray and focus on figuring out how you can glorify God in your life during the fast.
In Love,