WHEN FASTING FEELS RISKY
Micah Smith
Today's Scripture: "'Even now,' declares the Lord, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your hearts and not your garments.'" Joel 2:12-13a, ESV
Theme: Fasting isn't a formula to make God respond—it's a physical expression of our hearts' desire to return to Him.
THE FEAR OF FASTING
I'll be honest—I haven't explored fasting much from a spiritual perspective. It's not that I don't believe it works; it's that I'm afraid of what it means if it doesn't.
What if I genuinely forgo eating for a period (which wouldn't be easy for me because I love myself some food!) and I don't hear from God? What if He doesn't answer my question or address my concern? What then? I know I can't control or corral God, but what if at the end of my earnest efforts to fast, repent, pray, and listen... I hear nothing?
This fear clearly reveals something about how I've been thinking about fasting—like it's a transaction. I fast, and in return, God speaks. I sacrifice food, and He gives me clarity. But that's treating spiritual discipline like a vending machine: insert correct behavior (prayer, fasting, tithing, etc), receive desired outcome, but I’m not sure that's how this really works...
RETURN, NOT RESULTS
The book of Joel follows a pattern repeated throughout the Old Testament: Disobedience → Judgment → Repentance → Restoration. Most of the Old Testament is about the on-again, off-again dedication that God’s people had in their devotion to God. One generation has a faithful leader who guides Israel while seeking godly wisdom; the next has someone who thinks they have it all figured out and actively turns away from God. In Joel 1, a devastating plague of locusts—described almost like a literal army—has invaded Israel. By chapter 2, Joel is speaking on behalf of God to the people in verse 12: "Return to me with all your heart..."
Notice what God prioritizes: the heart. The verse continues "...fasting and weeping and mourning," but then immediately clarifies in verse 13: "Rend your hearts and not your garments." In ancient Israel, tearing your clothes was an outward sign of grief and repentance. God's saying, "I don't care about your torn clothes or your empty rituals. I want your actual heart."
Fasting, weeping, mourning—these are the external expressions, but without a heart-first desire to return to God, they're just meaningless actions. God isn't impressed by religious performance. He wants an authentic relationship. And here's the kicker: even Joel doesn't promise guaranteed results. Look at verse 14: "Who knows whether he will not turn and relent..." Even the prophet is like, "Look, I don't know exactly what God will do, but we need to return to Him anyway."
So where does that leave me? It would be prideful to suggest I'm already in a perfectly right relationship with God. Any day, any hour, there are countless things competing for my attention with varying degrees of urgency (like putting off writing a devotional until the due date because the story in my mind didn't resolve). But I'm planning to faithfully attempt my first fast this week—not because I have a crisis that needs divine intervention, but because it's a new year and I want to be intentional about my relationship with God. I want to create space to focus on listening to what He has for me, trusting that my faithful step in growing closer to Him won't be in vain... though I just used it for fodder in a devotional, so I might have to do it twice and just not tell anyone about the second time.
... but maybe that's the point. What if the real lesson is that fasting isn't about the outcome at all but all about the posture of your heart?
Make it Personal: Are you treating spiritual disciplines like transactions—things you do to get God to respond? What would it look like to fast, pray, or worship not to extract something from God, but simply to return to Him? What's competing for your heart's attention right now that fasting might help you set aside, even temporarily?
Pray: Father, forgive me for the times I've treated my relationship with You like a transaction. Help me return to You with my whole heart—not because I'm guaranteed specific answers, but because You are worth returning to. Teach me that fasting isn't about controlling You, but about removing distractions so I can focus on You. Give me the courage to create space for You, even when I'm afraid of what I might hear—or not hear. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Read: Joel 2:12-17, Matthew 6:16-18
Weekly Memory Verse: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19, ESV