Wednesday, January 4, 2011

God Satisfies Our Cravings

And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

-- 2 Corinthians 9:8

Many of us are familiar with this Scripture. We know it means that God will provide all of our financial needs if we just trust Him. Right? That is what we know isn’t it? Could it apply to other things as well?

Last night I heard a speaker on a radio talk show apply this verse to weight loss. Stop laughing! I’m serious here. And she actually made sense. God does promise to provide all our needs -- money, food, shelter, clothing. In our country, food is plentiful. So we eat. And we eat. We should be sharing more and eating less.

Most of us are blessed to have enough food. Not everyone. It’s a fallacy to think that every American has enough to eat. I don’t want anyone to misunderstand that. But we do have an obesity problem. We eat too much and we don’t eat the right things. We know this.

I’d never thought of food as trying to fill that craving, that inner space, made to be filled only by God. It’s a different way of looking at food. Have you ever considered it that way?

The speaker said she came to understand this when she went to God with her yo-yo weight and frantic desire to change. She wanted peace far more than a particular weight or jean size. She quoted Psalm 23 but substituted food for God. For example: Chocolate guides me along right paths. It’s funny. Except it isn’t.

I know that I enjoy eating most of the time. I’m not a chocoholic. My craving has always been crunchy. Pringles comes to mind. So do Wheat Thins. And Cheeze-its. Well, you get the point. Do you have a comfort food? Do you crave certain foods when you’re unhappy or upset?

What would happen if you turned to God instead of food? Imagine reading Scripture rather than crunching on chips or downing a box of chocolates. It feels sort of like freedom, doesn’t it? Suddenly, it’s not about my willpower. It’s about God helping me control something that’s trying to control me.

I guess I never really considered that God cares what we weigh. Oh, I know He wants us to be healthy. How else can we do the things He’s called us to do? God expects us to take care of His temple, which is what our bodies are. It just makes sense that He cares.

I’m grateful that God provides all of my needs. And I’m grateful that He gives me enough to share. I hope I remember that the next time I’m tempted to eat that whole thing all by myself.