Making Room for God: The Fast That Chooses Justice
Devotional week 10
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”- Isaiah 58:6 (NIV)
Why do we fast?
This is the question I ask myself before asking it of you. I have practiced fasting to deepen my communion with God and to seek to be His instrument in the country where I live. Yet when I read the book of Isaiah 58, I encounter a deeper challenge. The fast God chooses is not limited to private devotion. It calls for a life marked by justice and love for others—expressed in practical actions: freeing the oppressed, sharing bread with the hungry, and welcoming those in need.
If this is the fast God desires, it cannot remain separate from our professional lives. Fasting becomes a mirror for how we live and work, leading us to examine the systems we are part of and the choices we make within them.
This raises difficult but necessary questions: Does my success depend on indirect exploitation? Does my work sustain unjust practices? Is my leadership liberating or controlling?
Isaiah’s message is clear: devotion to God cannot be separated from justice. The fast God chooses is not merely abstaining from food but living with integrity and responsibility toward others.
For a tentmaker serving God through work, this may include:
practicing justice and integrity in professional decisions;
defending the vulnerable, even when it challenges easy profit;
leading in ways that allow others to grow and flourish;
managing resources generously and responsibly.
When fasting shapes these choices, it becomes more than a spiritual discipline. It becomes a way of life.
Isaiah promises that when God’s people practice this kind of justice, “your light will break forth like the dawn” (Isaiah 58:8). In ordinary offices, businesses, and institutions, our work can reflect something of God’s kingdom, becoming both worship to God and a quiet witness to others.
Challenge
This week, choose a concrete professional practice that reflects the fast God chooses: identify a decision, attitude, or system where you can act with justice and love for others. Ask yourself: Am I creating space for coherence between faith and work, or simply completing tasks efficiently?
Prayer
Lord God, help me to discern and gain understanding regarding my professional life. Show me what needs adjustment and lead me to ethical transformation so that I may act according to Your justice, even when it is challenging and contrary to the logic of the world. Grant me the courage to be a servant, living a transformed life that truly reflects Your character.
A Tent International Devotional — by a tentmaker in South Asia