I Thought Fasting Was About Not Eating

I've been fasting wrong my whole life.

Not in the "you're doing it wrong" religious critique kind of way. I mean I fundamentally misunderstood what fasting even is. I thought it was just...not eating. A spiritual diet. Skip a meal, say a prayer, feel holy.

Turns out, that's not fasting. That's just hunger with a Bible verse attached.

Isaiah 58 wrecked me.

"No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help."
— Isaiah 58:6-7 (NLT)

God's not impressed with your empty stomach if your neighbor's stomach is empty too.

He's saying: You're fasting from food but still exploiting people. You're "spiritual" on Sunday but oppressive Monday through Friday. You're skipping meals but ignoring the homeless guy you walked past to get to church.

That hit me.

Because I realized—I've been treating fasting like a personal spiritual boost. Like if I just skip breakfast and pray harder, God will bless my grind. My business. My goals. My hustle.

But fasting isn't about me recharging so I can work harder.

Fasting is about redirecting my energy away from myself and toward the people God cares about—the oppressed, the burdened, the overlooked, the hungry.

And then God drops this bomb right after talking about fasting:

"Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don't pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord's holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don't follow your own desires or talk idly."
— Isaiah 58:13 (NLT)

Wait. Fasting and Sabbath in the same chapter? That's not random.

Let me break down what's happening in the Hebrew, because this is where it gets wild.

The Hebrew: Chephets vs. Oneg

The phrase "don't pursue your own interests" in verse 13 uses the Hebrew word chephets (חֵפֶץ). It means desire, pleasure, business, purpose—the things you're bent toward, the things that pull your energy.

Some translations say "don't do your pleasure." Others say "don't do your business." Both are right.

Because in ancient Israel, your business was your pleasure. Your trade, your craft, the thing you loved doing—that's what you did for a living. You didn't clock in at a job you hated. You worked in what brought you joy and profit.

So God's saying: On the Sabbath, stop doing the thing that normally energizes you—your work, your hustle, your grind.

But then He says something that seems like a contradiction:

"Call the Sabbath a delight."

The Hebrew word for "delight" here is oneg (עֹנֶג). It means exquisite delight, luxury, soft pleasure, dainty joy. It's the kind of word used to describe a groom approaching his bride under the wedding canopy. It's tender. It's rich. It's luxurious.

So God's essentially saying:
"Stop pursuing your own chephets (your desires, your business), and instead, experience the Sabbath as oneg (exquisite delight)."

He's not asking you to be miserable. He's asking you to redirect what delights you.

Here's the pattern I'm seeing:

Fasting isn't about not eating.
Sabbath isn't about not working.

Both are about redirecting your energy toward what God cares about.

When you fast, you redirect the time and money you would've spent on a meal toward feeding someone else.
When you rest on Sabbath, you redirect the energy you would've spent on your grind toward lifting someone else's burden.

Fasting and Sabbath are both justice-driven rest and redirection.

They're not about you escaping life. They're about you deploying differently.

What God Promises If You Do This

Check out what happens next:

"Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. 'Yes, I am here,' he will quickly reply."
— Isaiah 58:8-9 (NLT)

"Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!"
— Isaiah 58:14 (NLT)

God says: When you stop chasing your own chephets and start making the Sabbath an oneg—when you fast by actually freeing people instead of just skipping meals—I'll show up. I'll heal you. I'll answer when you call. I'll make you ride on the heights of the earth.

That's not religious talk. That's deployment orders.

What I'm Doing Differently

I'm an artist and entrepreneur. I grind 24/7. I don't know how to stop.

And I realized—I've been treating rest like a waste of time. I've been treating Sabbath like it's optional because "I've got work to do."

But that's the whole problem.

I've been pursuing my own chephets (my business, my goals, my grind) and calling it obedience. And I've been "fasting" by skipping meals while scrolling Instagram, ignoring the person in my neighborhood who actually needs a meal.

So here's what I'm doing now:

When I fast, I'm not just skipping a meal.
I'm looking for someone in my neighborhood to give that meal to. I'm redirecting that time and energy toward the oppressed, the overlooked, the burdened—the people Isaiah 58 says God actually cares about.

On the Sabbath, I'm not just "not working."
I'm asking: Who can I lift a burden off of today? Whose load can I lighten? How can I redirect my energy away from my grind and toward someone else's freedom?

Because Sabbath isn't passive rest so I can get back to the grind Monday.

Sabbath is strategic rest that restores me for Kingdom deployment.

And fasting isn't a spiritual diet.

Fasting is fuel for justice.

Wrestling Questions:

1. What are you currently "fasting" from that's just for you? (Social media breaks don't count if you're still ignoring the homeless.)

2. Who in your life is carrying a burden you could actually help lift? Name one person. What's one thing you could do this week?

3. If Sabbath is supposed to be "exquisite delight" (oneg), why does it feel like a religious chore? What would it look like to actually enjoy redirecting your energy toward God and others?

4. What's your chephets? What's the thing you're bent toward—your work, your hustle, your passion? What would it look like to intentionally turn away from it for a day and redirect that energy?

Next time you fast, don't just skip the meal.

Give it away.

That’s it for today

keep JOY, live Disciplined