Cloth and fasting

Isaiah 58:7b ...when you see the naked, to clothe him...

What is God talking about here? This little phrase is in the context of God rebuking His people for physically fasting while all the while cheating their workers, beating on each other and fighting and quarreling. They claim to have humbled themselves before God, but are acting anything but humble toward one another. They bow their heads and lay on sackcloth, but their hearts are not changed or humbled in any way. They expect God to look down and say, “Oh, look at them...aren't they wonderful for abasing themselves?” They expect God to appreciate their attempts at getting His attention, but all for their own selfish ends. So He lays out for them the purpose of fasting...not to deprive themselves for the sake of show, but to change their hearts toward Him and others.

They are to love their brothers by treating them justly, feeding the hungry and clothing the poor. They are to pay them a livable wage and make sure they are provided for, including clothing them. They should be taking care of their own family members (I take this to mean the orphans and widows in their family tree, or relatives that couldn't make it on their own).

Clothing the naked is fasting. Who knew?

Fasting is depriving oneself of food or anything, really, that would be enjoyed or provide for ones own needs in some way. Food is most thought of. We could eat...it is available and our bodies want it, but we tell ourselves NO for a time to help us focus on the important things in life like prayer. But we can also fast in other ways. We can NOT buy something, using that money to provide for the needs of others. We can give away our clothing, our possessions, to meet the needs of someone else. We can say NO to a trip, to a TV program, to doing something for ourselves, in order to get closer to God or to meet the needs, physically and spiritually, of those around us. And this is the fasting that God prefers. It is the fasting that gets His attention. The result of this fasting is that He does hear us when we pray. He meets the needs of everyone through this type of fast. Don't bring more stuff to Me, He says here, but reach out to the family and neighbors who have been deprived of what they deserve. We all know people who, due to no fault of their own, can't make ends meet. Their kids get sick, their spouse dies, something happens and they are scraping to make a go of it. God tells us that this fast will change the whole culture. Instead of pointing fingers and gossiping, we meet needs. Instead of worldly people looking on and seeing judgmental and selfish attitudes in the church, they see light, and the light rises, lifting their thoughts to a good God. Then God guides them and meets the needs, the deeper needs, of the givers, giving them the strength to do all sorts of rebuilding in their lands. Everyone wins and God is glorified and delighted to provide more for everyone.

So how do we fast with cloth? Do you sew? Make blankets, clothes like Little Dresses for Africa (or wherever you want to send them, school clothes and uniforms for foreign children to be able to get an education, or chemo caps, hats, scarves, or coats for those who need covering. Do you knit or crochet? Knit hats, sweaters, dresses, or socks or scarves for the cold and needy. Do you not work in cloth? Send cloth to missions that make quilts or clothes for such causes. Project Linus, orphanages, county homes and shelters...donate clothing or cloth so they can be warmed. Spend your money on socks and underwear to donate. Buy coats and shoes and jeans. Give them where the need is in your community or around the world. Ask visiting missionaries what cloth needs the people they minister to have. If it costs you something while depriving you of something that you would rather have had or done, it is fasting...And really, are we deprived of anything? Not really. We think so some days. That new thing that we would have like to have had. That lunch out with the girls. That new pair of shoes for us...we have sooooo much and yet think that we don't have enough. But it is not the not having that makes for a fast, but the telling self NO. Telling God YES, that what He is asking us to give up temporarily is better for us, for Him, and for others. For giving up that thing that we really wanted to have or keep, and giving it to someone who really needs it, that is the fasting that God uses in both the lives of the giver and the receiver...both experience God's loving touch. And that is receiving a blessing, not being deprived of one.

What fast can you and I partake in this week to help us get God's perspective, meet a need, and give out of the abundance that God has blessed us with?