Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how the Lord God has positively influenced my overeating, this doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse. Debbie

COE Support Note:

If you REALLY want to read how Christ helped me throughout this weight loss and even when I was tempted, you should read some of the 100's of previous posts on https://christianovereaterssupport.blogspot.com/

I Wasn't Letting "the Joy" Show Through...

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.

I have to be honest. This is a tricky blog post for me to write about, because the very thought of this topic brings tears to my eyes. I'm not even sure I can quite explain it, but it's what God had tugging at my heart when I selected this verse.

About a month ago, I was in a dollar store, one of my favorite places. (I love saving a buck with the best of them.) This lady from a different culture came up to me and asked me to explain the meaning of one of the greeting cards. Being a retired teacher, I took great pride in explaining the jargon to her in a way I thought she might better understand.

After that, the lady said to me that she could tell I was hurting inside. At the time, I thought I was happy with nothing particular on my mind. I could feel big tears well up in my eyes as she talked to me, saying that she could see I was a nice lady, she could see the pain in my heart, and that things were going to be alright-not to worry.

What do you say to a stranger who says something like this? I thanked her several times, but it has been on my mind periodically ever since. I have tried to be very prayerful about this interaction. Lots of different things crossed my mind as I contemplated this interaction. The thing that came out of this is: if a stranger can look at me and feel sadness in my heart, I wasn't letting "the Joy" show through.

I really had to take a closer look at myself. If I'm not letting "the Joy" that God gives me show through, that means that I'm letting worry take over and crowd Jesus out of my life. Worrying is often the reason I end up overeating more than being drawn to any particular food. Any time I am worrying about something, that means I'm virtually saying, "God, I don't trust you to take care of this issue, so I'm going to worry about it and try to find a Plan B, just in case you don't pull through for me." Well, that's definitely not what I want to be projecting to God or to strangers I meet. I need to be a better example of letting "the Joy" that God gives me to show through. I don't want Jesus crowded out of my life by worry, fear, etc.  I need to remember: Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.

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