Illness as a type of fasting

My minister at Vintage 21 in Raleigh made a good point:

"Anyone who fasts for 12 hours realizes they are not self sufficient. We require things out side of us to be sustained. That is humbling. After 12 hours no one approaches God with an arrogant heart."

I find illness and poverty to be similar to fasting. Different from regular fasting because it comes to us willing or not. But some of the best fasts in the bible happen to people who get lost in the desert. People who ended up hungry not of their own choice.

I find trying to treat a serious illness out of pocket in the face of an economic down turn humbling. Going with out money is a type of fasting as is going with out good health. I turn a humble heart to God. I ask that God make good on his promise that my suffering will show Jesus to the world. I find strength and meaning in the fact that I am not master of my own destiny and I need God to sustain me.

The difference between a deliberate fast of 12 hours and being sick is. When I wake up tomorrow - unless a miracle occurred in the middle of the night - I will still be sick. Now my fast becomes more like one who is wandering in the desert.