Keidashetki

 

ON FASTING, SUFFERING AND FOLLOWING JESUS 

10.5.2025

I have sometimes met people who testify to the mystery of fasting, its powerful, breaking power in their lives. They talk about fasting in relation to not eating. In these situations, I remained silent, not knowing what to answer. Sometimes I feel guilty, because I have never practiced such kind of  fasting in my life. I have no doubt that God has performed the miracles they testify about. Glory to God alone for the breakthroughs they have received! 

Mark 9 Jesus talks about fasting. 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer. Jesus does not elaborate on what kind of fasting He means. When I was last in Uganda in November 2023, the locals told me that some Christians were doing water fasting for 40 days. They openly mentioned their fasting to the others. The testimonies about fasting and suffering were already reaching the point of self-aggrandizement. Some of them had ended up being hospitalized due to the severity of their fasting. 

  

My friends asked, what do you think about this, doctor Satu? Well, I wondered aloud about that kind of fasting. I wondered if that was Jesus' will? Doesn't the Lord give answers to prayers and breakthroughs in other ways? Doesn't the Lord answer us in other ways, except when we are suffering from a lack of food and are malnourished in a hospital bed? I told the questioners that I have never fasted because I am afraid of getting a migraine. I can still be close to the Lord, and  in contact with Him. The topic of fasting is ambiguous. 

Isaiah 58:4-11 says: “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,only a day for people to humble themselves?Is it only for

bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD ? 6 “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? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

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Yes, suffering has not been absent from my life either. As a follower of Jesus, a life of holiness brings with it years, even decades of schools of suffering, trials, and even persecution. As He sanctifies and cleanses us, the Lord in His grace burns our dry branches and it hurts. He strips us of our flesh and draws near to us. God's schools of trust begin and continue. Suffering contains a secret. We slowly come to understand that everything is in the hands of our Savior. Suffering is an opportunity to grow in faith, obedience, and humility, adhering ever more deeply to the word of the Bible. The word of the Bible can better merge with us through the Holy Spirit when our own flesh is not (too) an obstacle to it. Our absoluteness and demands slowly fade away. Instead of complaining, we begin to thank and praise Jesus our Savior! At the same time, the Lord also leads us to serve with increasing eagerness. 

He answers the questioner, shows the way to his follower. What is my place to serve, my Lord and Savior? What kind of fasting do You expect from me? What have You in Your grace planned for my place of service today and in the future?

Bible: New International Version (NIV)