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Category: Diets and Weight Loss

  • God Provides Our Food–Why That Matters

    God Provides Our Food–Why That Matters

    When my infant grandson is hungry, he must depend on others to feed him. He can’t drive to the store, buy his formula, make his bottle, and feed himself. He relies on those who love him to care for him. He’s completely dependent.

    When we’re hungry, we go to the store, make a meal, and feed ourselves. Or do we?

    I’m afraid that we’ve lost the connection to God who provides our every bite in our industrialized world. We rarely even see where our food is grown. And it can become easy to lose sight of the fact that we are completely and utterly dependent on God’s provision.

    Farmers and gardeners understand that there is only so much they can do to grow food. Then they must rely on God’s providence and care to send the rain, shine the sun, and bear the fruit. Do we understand this? I almost wonder if the enemy blinds us to the wonder of God’s provision so that it’s trivialized and not treasured. And then every meal is just not that special.

    Jacob understood this very clearly. When he blessed Joseph at the end of his life, he said…


    “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk,
    the God which fed me all my life long unto this day.”
    Genesis 48:15

    “The God which fed me all my life unto this day!” Jacob understood that everything comes from God–every morsel, every grain, every sweet and savory bite.

    Do we understand this? Do we stop to thank God for our food–before, during, or after? I confess I don’t always do this. In fact, I often forget. But I want to grow in acknowledging how dependent I am on God for food by praying.

    It’s interesting to me that Jacob said “the God which fed me all life long unto this day” in his blessing to Joseph–the one God had chosen and led to plan and prepare for 7 years of famine in Egypt. Joseph surely understood that God is the one who feeds us! Jacob’s prayer was divinely led and teaches us the view we need to have regarding God’s provision: God feeds us all the days of our life.

    So what does this mean for us in our food and diet struggles?

    As we draw closer to God and learn more about who He is, we see His goodness and faithfulness in His provision. We understand that we are just a few seasons away from drought and famine. We understand that 20 million people in the world are on the brink of famine right now. We stop taking our food for granted and we trust God’s provision.

    How do we respond to this? Here are some thoughts.

    1. We stop eating out of fear. So often I have eaten when not hungry because I might get hungry later. Perhaps I’m going to church or into a meeting and don’t want to get hungry when I can’t eat, so I eat to prevent hunger. This is the wrong reason to eat. Remember, we eat out of hunger–not appetite or any other reason such as fear. Instead, I can choose not to eat and trust that God will provide what I need when I need it. Practically, I can pack a snack in my purse or take it with me into a meeting–just in case. On a more spiritual side, I can trust that I won’t die from a hunger pang and just wait for the next opportunity to satisfy my hunger.
    2. I walk in the belief that God is faithful. I remember that God has provided food whenever I do get hungry. I celebrate God’s faithfulness in His provision of food.
    3. I eat with gratitude. I acknowledge that I would have nothing without God feeding me every day of my life. I give thanks to God for His goodness.
    4. I pray for others. I don’t just read about the plight of millions who struggle for their food, I pray for God’s provision and mercy.
    5. I share. And I don’t just pray. I seek out organizations that provide relief to these famine-stricken areas and I give money to assist.
    6. I get closer to God-made food. Instead of eating chemicals and factory-made food that does make it more difficult to see God’s provision, I choose a diet that mostly consists of things God has made–gorgeous veggies, juicy fruits, succulent meats. whole grains bursting with nutrition. (This is a guideline, not a rule.) It’s hard not to marvel at God’s provision when we eat natural instead of “plastic” food.
    7. I let God redeem my struggle. I become part of the solution related to food issues in the world. I become an advocate for hungry children in my community.

    “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
    As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
    So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    Until He is gracious to us.”
    Psalm 123:2

  • A New Approach and Response to Weigh Day

    A New Approach and Response to Weigh Day

    I used to anticipate weigh day with a mixture of hope and dread. It would be the barometer that would tell me if I’d been “good.” It would define my self-worth and be the source of my joy. Remember: The joy of the scale was my strength. Not anymore! There’s a new way to approach and respond to weigh day.

    Before I stepped on the scale this morning, I prayed, “God, I submit myself to You. Please help me grow in wisdom.”

    I was a little surprised by that coming out of my heart but I think it shows growth from the old days of diet addiction. And you know how sometimes we’ll pray and the prayer actually teaches us? That’s what happened today. I realized that the scale was just a barometer to help me grow in wisdom–not tell me what I’m worth. It’s just feedback! And then the Holy Spirit can help me grow in hearing His voice in the next week–better than I did the week before perhaps.

    So that’s a new approach. Here’s how I used to respond to Weigh Day–either with joy or sadness. And, yet the joy might even make me relax my diet. Thus, the yo-yo! And, sadness would take me down a path I never want to return to: questioning–maybe this is the wrong diet; condemnation–what is wrong with me?; hopelessness–I’m never going to change!  The cycle continued.

    Here’s a new response: Gratitude.

    When I lost last week, my heart overflowed in gratitude and praise to God–the One who was delivering and freeing me. Not for a diet but for the One who can only rescue me.

    And when I gained this week, I can’t say my heart overflowed with gratitude, but I was thankful to God for helping me to grow in wisdom and recommit to following Him and listening to His voice in this journey.

    I’m telling you: This is a world of difference from the pain of bondage to the scale I’ve travelled for 40 years. It doesn’t have the power over me it once did.

    I am grateful!

  • Gaining Wisdom to Lose Weight

    Gaining Wisdom to Lose Weight

    God will use our recovery from diet addiction to grow us in wisdom. As we draw closer to Him, depending on Him instead of diets to save us, we’ll learn more about His Word and His ways.

    As difficult as this journey can be–the ups and downs, the beautiful thing is that we’re learning more about who God is than about the latest diet fad. We’re spending time crying out to God, searching His Word, being accountable to Him instead of a diet program.

    Growing in wisdom is a gain that’s greater than any weight loss.

    I believe God longs for us to be wise. When Jesus sent His disciples out, He told them He was sending them out among wolves. He warned…

    “Be wise as serpents
    and harmless as doves.”
    Matthew 10:16

    This message is reinforced by Paul who said in Romans 16:19 to be “wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.”

    May God use our daily challenges to teach us to be wise in what is good!

    I needed to be more wise on a recent trip. My sweet sister-in-law called to see if I was okay with her bringing Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream over. I didn’t stop to think long about it. Thinking that I can eat anything in moderation, I said yes.

    While it’s true that I can eat anything, it’s not true that I can eat the entire carton in a week. And the price I’ve paid in the malaise of my spirit and returning to focusing on the Spirit instead of my flesh has been high.

    I was not wise in my choice of understanding the danger this Blue Bell temptation would be for me. I should’ve said no to her gracious question. There are some foods that can trigger my appetite and I just need to keep them out of hand’s reach. I needed to be wise as a serpent.

    So how do we learn to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove? Consider these things I’ve learned about serpents.

    Snakes have senses that other animals don’t. Snakes don’t smell; instead their forked tongues taste chemical compositions in the air. Snakes don’t have eyelids or ears and their eyes don’t move. To hear, they feel vibrations through the ground.

    May God give us a spiritual sense through the Holy Spirit to see and hear and taste what is true rather than what we experience through our five senses alone. 

    Snakes know to get out of the cold since they can’t produce heat.

    May God give us the wisdom to avoid danger and temptation–to get out of the cold that will freeze our desire for good.

    Snakes don’t have to eat often because their metabolisms are so slow.

    This can just be an unspoken prayer!

    Snakes adapt to their environment. Corn snakes use their scales to climb bark. The Paradise Tree Snake of southeast Asia can “fly” by swinging its body into the air and flattening to a C-shape.

    May God give us the wisdom to adapt to any environment to thrive–even on vacation, at parties, over holidays–so that we walk in His Spirit instead of our flesh.

    Snakes don’t attack humans. When threatened, they try not to be noticed. Snakes use camouflage for protection.

    May God give us the wisdom to react for self-preservation in pursuing goodness instead of reacting out of our emotions and turning to food to meet needs that only God can.

    “Therefore be careful how you walk,
    not as unwise men but as wise.”
    Ephesians 5:15