Friday Read: Fasting From What Controls You

Traditional Lenten fasts focused on food - giving up meat, rich foods, or fasting completely on certain days. In medieval times, Christians abstained from all animal products during Lent, living on bread, vegetables, and water. The physical hunger served as constant reminder of spiritual need, turning bodily discomfort into spiritual awareness.

But modern Lenten fasts often reveal how little food actually controls us compared to other things. Give up your smartphone for a day and notice the panic. Remove social media for a week and feel the anxiety. Fast from news and experience the fear of missing out. These reactions expose what's actually controlling you - and it's probably not food.

True fasting removes something you depend on so you discover what you're actually depending on. If you can give it up easily, it wasn't controlling you. If removing it creates panic, withdrawal, or desperation - you've found your functional savior, the thing you're trusting to do what only God should do.

Isaiah condemned Israel's fasting because they were doing it wrong: "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?" (Isaiah 58:6). They fasted from food while oppressing their workers. They gave up meals while maintaining systemic injustice. God called them to fast from sin, not just calories.

What if Lent meant fasting from gossip? From complaining? From judgment of others? From materialism? From productivity addiction? From the compulsive need to be right? These fasts would be far more uncomfortable than skipping dessert because they address actual sin patterns rather than just dietary preferences.

Jesus said, "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting" (Matthew 6:16). The Pharisees made sure everyone knew they were fasting - disheveled appearance, public displays of piety, constant references to their sacrifice. Jesus called this performance, not fasting. True fasting is between you and God, not you and your audience.

So what should you fast from this Lent? Ask yourself: What do I reach for when I'm stressed? What do I turn to for comfort when I'm anxious? What's my first response to boredom, loneliness, or fear? Whatever you named is probably what needs fasting from - not because it's evil in itself but because you've given it authority over your life that belongs only to God.

Some people need to fast from food to rediscover that man doesn't live by bread alone. Some need to fast from productivity to learn that their worth isn't measured by output. Some need to fast from social media to discover they exist even when no one's watching. Some need to fast from control to learn that God's capable of handling what they can't. The specific fast matters less than whether it exposes what you're actually trusting in.

Here's how to know if your fast is working: if removing it reveals panic, that's good - it means you've identified something that was controlling you. The panic isn't the problem; it's the revelation of the problem. Sit with that discomfort. Let it teach you. Use the space created by fasting to turn to God and discover if he's actually sufficient when your usual comfort isn't available.