Obsessing Over Food Has Never Been Beneficial for Me

[Don't] be carried [away] with [diverse, a.k.a. various,] & strange doctrines, [a.k.a. teachings.] For it's a good thing that the heart [is] established with grace, not with meats, [a.k.a. foods,] which haven't [benefited those who] have been [preoccupied with them.] Hebrews 13:9 KJV Bible [paraphrased] 

Whenever I read this passage, it's like looking in a mirror and seeing my reflection. It's not always easy recognizing that we've become preoccupied by foods. I used to plan early in the day, if not the day before, what I was going to eat, eagerly looking forward to that time. This is not the pre-planning that's suggested to balance out your meals, making sure you have the correct amount of healthy non-fattening foods to eat. 

I was soooo obsessed over foods, until I finally gave up one day and told the Lord God, that if He ever wanted me to be thin, He'd have to do it, because I couldn't. I had tried and tried so many different diets, and even retried many of them, but nothing worked. I sometimes lost a few pounds, only to gain back even more than I started with.

On that day that I turned over my control over my food, body, eating, and stress, without even realizing I was doing it, everything changed. Actually, it didn't give up and turn everything over to the Lord, because I expected a change. I just wanted to stop the struggle with trying to loose weight and the self-loathing that came from not being able to do so! Well, that very same day, the Lord took away the urge to eat large portions of foods, especially those that weren't healthy for me. It was amazing! The Lord God has blessed me with an 80+ pound weight loss, and He has allowed it to stay off for over 40 years. This doesn't mean that I don't ever slip back into old patterns, but when I go back to turning all my food, body, eating, and stress over to the Lord's very capable hands every time I eat a meal, or I'm tempted to eat something I shouldn't, He's in control, every time I relinquish my control to not do what isn't beneficial for me!

What About Honest Scales?

Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord; all weights in the bag are of His making. Proverbs 16:11 NIV Bible

Really, in the Bible this Bible Passages doesn't have to do so much with the scales that we weigh ourselves on, but it has to do with the merchants who would cheat the buyer by using unfair scales and weights. The thing is, this relates to me as an Christian  Overeater!

There are times that I remember sleecing my way through a pie, trying to make my overeating undiscovered by my family. I called it a sleece, because that was my version of an extra small slice of pie. The thing is, that would only whet my appetite and I would have sleece after sleece until a third of the pie was gone. Most definitely my family wouldn't have missed a third of a pie that I had just made!!!! Who was I trying to fool???

It wasn't until I prayed that day, telling the Lord God that if He ever wanted me thin, He's have to do it, because I couldn't, and I was giving up! I never in a million years thought that the very same day, the Lord God would turn my whole life upside down! And He took away my urge to eat large amounts of food, and to hide it from others. That doesn't mean that I don't ever start to backslide, but fortunately for me, the Lord has what I'm doing on my heart, and once I put my food, my stress, and my eating into His very capable hands, He puts me back on track! 

Me, Impatient? No Way!

 If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep you from speaking? Job 4:2 NIV Bible

This seems to be a very appropriate verse for me right now. I was trying to update a post on another blog: 

Books of the Bible [in SmallerChunks] at https://bibleinsmallerchunks.blogspot.com/ 

Anyway, I kept trying to put the newer versions of some of the recently edited Bible chapters in my post. But it seemed that some glitch or another would happen to them. It probably has something to do with my computer, because it froze up on me earlier this morning! 

Fortunately, before I started working on this project with the updated chapters, I prayed asking the Lord God to give me the Peace Which Passes All Understanding. 

Satan must have been wanting to test my faith, because there were no less than ten times that errors would happen, when I was trying to paste these in. In the past, I would have eaten when I was frustrated over something like this. But when this would happen, I would always remember that God is All-Powerful, and these issues would be resolved. Not of my own patience or technical abilities, but the Lord God took care of these issues, and kept me from losing my cool! I really should pray for His Peace Which Passes All Understanding more often, because there are some times I don't respond as calmly. 

Trying Again, and What a Major Difference That Made for Me

 Let us search and try out ways, and turn again to the Lord. Lamentations 3:4 KJV Bible

I wrote some time ago, about my blunders related to going to a buffet. I know better than to even step foot into a buffet, but sometimes it seems like the most appropriate place to go with those you are eating with. 

This time, I prayed about it before I went, and praying to the Lord God first, made a major difference! Actually, I just realized that it's because the other people I was meeting at the buffet hadn't arrived yet, which allowed me the extra time to pray before stepping in there. In fact, as I retrace this situation in my mind, I had tried to go inside the restaurant, but they had the doors locked because they don't open the doors before the official opening time. 

The Lord worked a major miracle for me, since buffets are one of my bigger eating temptations! It turned out that this time, I didn't heap my plate up with food like I normally do, in order to get my money's worth! But writing about this situation made me realize the Lord had a lot of things fall into play for all of this to happen. First, the others hadn't arrived yet, when they could have been there. Then, the restaurant doors were locked, but they could have been opened. All these things left me with extra time in my car trying to think about what to do while I wait. Then, it dawned on me that I should pray about my temptations with buffets. It made an amazing difference for me. Not only was I not hungry after I ate a normal sized plate of buffet food, but I had a special calmness that only the Lord God can give. I call it The Peace Which Passes All Understanding! But He reminded me that I need to be more prayerful before I attempt things that might be a temptation, not only with foods, but with interactions with others, etc! This was the most productive time I've had while waiting for others, ever!