Why Do You Fast?

This morning I'm back in Isaiah chapter 58.  As I was lying in bed this morning in a sort of half-awake state, I was asking myself what was on my to-do list for today and seeking God's guidance as to the best use of my time. Suddenly Isaiah 58:4 popped into my head, along with a personal interpretation of it.  I have studied it in the past and felt I only partially understood what I needed to understand, so this felt like an answer to my prayer for increased understanding.  Here is what it says (preceded with excerpts from the previous 2 verses): "Yet they seek . . . to know my ways . . . Why have we fasted, they say, and you do not see it? . . .you fast only for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness.  Fasting as you do today will not cause your voice to be heard on high."

In the past, this is what I wrote about it in my journal:

"What does it mean to fast for strife and debate? How might I do this?  The word translated strife basically speaks of contesting something - legally or physically.  The word translated fist also speaks of grasping. 

A contest - hmmm when I see the idea of a 'fast' as abstaining from sweets (for example), if when I am doing it, I am comparing myself with those around me - telling myself that my actions in some way make me better than them, I would think this would meet the definition of fasting for strife and debate.  If I am hoping the results of my actions will put others in their place or make them jealous, or even if I am simply grasping for something to boost my pride, these could all meet the idea of smite with the fist of wickedness."

I knew I had a partial understanding, but today I began to understand this passage as God simply asking, "How are you going to use the health and energy that I would like to give you? I would be doing you a disservice if I blessed you and then you used those blessings to help yourself self-destruct!"

I am reminded of the story of Elijah as told in I Kings chapters 18 and 19.  He had just come from a fast prior to a contest on Mount Carmel designed to prove whether God was more powerful than Baal.  God answered his prayers in a very dramatic way and Elijah was so energized that he ran in front of Ahab's chariot in the pouring rain all the way to Jezreel.  Then the Queen threatened him, and he took off running for his life.  He went a day's journey into the wilderness and sat under a tree in depression wanting to die. An angel came and fed him, reviving him enough that he ran 40 more days into the wilderness.

I've heard it suggested that Elijah didn't use the energy he was given very wisely.  I don't see that the Bible specifically addresses this question, and whether or not it is true is not my business.  What DOES matter to me is how I use the energy that God has given ME.  Am I seeking God's guidance for my life and following it? Or am I simply running - exhausting myself for no good reason (possibly putting myself in a position where I'm more likely to feel depressed or become ill)? How am I going to use the blessings of health and energy that God gives me?

Father, thank you so much for the many blessings in my life!  May I use them wisely. I ask that I hear your voice clearly saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." (Isaiah 30:21) And I ask that you work within me both to will and to do your good pleasure. (Phil 2:13)  Thank you, Father.