The Missing Component in the Fasting Practice: Replenishment

For a little history of my journey to incorporating fasting into my life, start here, here, here, here, and here. To give some context, I’m now several weeks past breaking my 3.5-day fast. As I’ve observed the changes in my body and the difficult transition back to eating regularly, I’ve found my heart yearning for more handholds to guide me through this transition. While much is written and said about the power of fasting, the ways to prepare for a fast, and the act of fasting itself, little is spoken about the stage after a longer (3+ day) fast. There’s some excellent information out there about how to break a fast, but I believe more needs to be said and understood about those days following the break.

In my experience, there was so much more to breaking a fast than just the break (reintroducing food) itself. I had a felt need to set an intention toward a new rhythm. After all the discipline, the cutting out, and the resetting that my body and spirit had just gone through, it felt shallow and almost repulsive to just go back to eating and living as before. Instead, I wanted to harness the momentum created in my physical and spiritual health and redirect my life rhythm toward more growth.

The word that kept bubbling up in my soul was replenish.

Replenish: transitive verb: to fill or build up again; to fill with inspiration or power (nourish); to supply fully (perfect).

When I did a search for it in the Bible, I found two beautiful verses:

“For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Jeremiah 31:25 ESV

In the Greek, the word replenish is mālā' (pronounced maw-lay’). It’s primary meaning is to fill or be full. And, it’s a hyperlink to page one of the Bible: “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28 ESV). When God was turning chaos into order and forming creation, His first instruction to Adam and Eve was to replenish—”fill”—the earth.

Naturally when you fast, your body is emptied, so the steps necessary after fasting is not just to fill it up again; you have an opportunity to fill it up intentionally with the foods that nourish, give power, and optimize your body. For me, the idea of replenishing requires intention. It requires research and study and listening to your body to know which specific foods are going to fuel you again and set you up for greater health and wellness. Of course, you also have the choice to fill it with junk fuel that will immediately start working against the healing you’ve just gone through—I tried to replenish my body after my 3.5-day fast with chips fried in seed oil within four days of breaking the fast, and my body revolted. I had debilitating heartburn for ten full hours! My body told me in no uncertain terms that that fuel was harming, not helping my body. My physical body was sensitive to the harmful effects of highly processed foods, and there were no masking mechanisms able to override the discomfort it created.

Similarly, we have a choice to replenish our soul after a fast. We choose what “fuel” to fill it with again. And, like the physical symptoms, the spiritual masking (or numbing) agents just aren’t as effective as they once were. You many find yourself more sensitive to content in TV shows or movies than before. You may find that the idea of scrolling online is actually repulsive. You may also choose to fall back into the exact same unhealthy patterns as before and just cowboy your way through the discomfort after.

Confession: when I broke my long fast, I felt physically sick, and I immediately began to fill my soul with my comfort and numbing devices of choice. I spent the entire day in bed watching TV. Is watching TV when you’re not feeling well “bad.” No, that’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that after a fast, there’s an invitation to choose carefully not just what you refill your physical body with but also what you refill your spirit with. I rejected my invitation, and I felt an internal frustration because of it. My spirit knew that there was more available for me after the fast, but I turned to empty “calories” that satisfied me for a short period of time and then left me feeling sicker and wanting more.

The takeaway from this is simple: when you decide to do a longer fast, don’t just plan for the beginning and the middle. Plan for the end. What will you fill your body and soul with after the fast? It’s a beautiful opportunity to see some lasting change in your life, but it won’t happen automatically. 💛