There has been a post in the works coming for nearly a month now. And I have probably had a million ideas on what I want to write about during that month....
Friends, homeschooling, dieting, marriage, Christianity today...
But today I am not really in the mood for something serious, so here is what you get...
CRAVINGS, FOOD, ADDICTION to FOOD
I know, not the greatest post and I'll probably lose a few readers right about now, but this has just consumed so many thoughts lately.
Last year I lost about 33 pounds from Feb. 1 through April 30 and I felt so much better about myself. I did not read any books about it but I went on the dieting plunge with my Aunt Pam and, through the grace of God only, I was able to see food for its nutritional value and not something that I "controlled". In actuality, it controlled me!! Very much so. Not many would call overeating an addiction, but that's just what it is. I had grown up eating all the wrong foods and those habits went with me into adulthood. If I craved it, I found a way to get it. Food was for comfort and pleasure.
Now, I believe food should be good (as in palatable to the tongue) and should bring pleasure because it fills that hunger in your body & cells, but I now know that I must choose to find pleasure first in obeying God and not in feeding whatever craving I have. And if I choose foods that bring more lasting nourishment instead of chips/dip, chocolate, etc., then my cells are fuller longer. :) Make sense? If my craving were alcohol, I suppose I could be a recovering alcoholic. Or if my craving were pornography, I suppose I would dealing with those sins right now instead of the food. My "sin that so easily entangles" happens to be overeating/glutony.
Lately I have been hearing scripture through sermons and others on FB and receiving devotionals dealing with lusts of the flesh and being controlled by the Spirit instead of food, and I have really been convicted once again that, even though I have only gained back about 10 pounds of the 33, I have fallen back into the "being controlled by food" syndrome. I constantly pray for my will to bend to His and that I will focus more on serving Him/doing things for my children/being a godly productive wife/exercising & taking care of this "temple"/choosing the healthy alternative.
Here are some of the scriptures in Romans that have been helpful to me:
"...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).
"You, however, are controlled not the sinful nature but by the Spirit" (Romans 8:9a).
"If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31b)
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37)
I would like to ask if any of you have read the book Made to Crave? I have considered buying the book and seeing what the author Lysa TerKeurst says about filling your need with GOD. I think it's wonderful that she acknowledges that we as women were made to crave---it's that "something" that we crave.
I'll end with that as I resist the habanero dip I have prepared for my husband. :(
