Food Freedom Forever: Tip #2

The journey to being free of the shackles that food holds on you is a long, tough road.  It's one that is worth it, but it won't be easy.  I am still a work in progress.  I am unfinished.  Each day, I might face a temptation that could lead to another binge session.  Each day, I have to fight that battle.

After I realized what was going on and that I knew I needed a whole body reset, I did what I knew how to do.  I prayed.  Over the course of several days, I prayed and asked God to help me.  I wasn't sure what my next step was, but I knew that going to Him first would be the right thing to do.  And it was.

Over the course of a couple weeks, I came to know what He was telling me.  He was saying,

Beth, you are trying to fill the emptiness of your heart with food.  But it's not a food-shaped hole.  It's a God-shaped hole.  You need Me.

Okay, God.  You're right.  That's exactly what I was doing.  It was a harsh reality, but it was something that I needed to hear so that I could move along this journey.  Maybe it's not food that you struggle with.  But is it something else?  Are you trying to fill some sort of void or emptiness in your life with something you think will take away the pain? 

God wants the number ONE spot in your life.  He deserves that spot.  So if something is taking up that spot, He will let you know.  I was struggling with depression, binge eating, loneliness, my identity, and it was all because I was trying to find happiness, friendship, and who I was in ALL of the wrong places.  I can find true happiness, friendship, and identity in HIM!

Start putting Him first in your life.  Have a daily quiet time where you sit and read His Word before the crazy of the day starts.  It may take some sacrifice on your part.  You may have to get up earlier.  You may have to do things you don't want to do.  But in order to have a real relationship with God...to find the true happiness, friendship, and identity...you've got to put some work in.  All relationships take work, and the relationship with God is the most important one in your life.

We all have desire.  We have the desire to be loved.  We have a desire for a lot of things in our life.  But we may be looking for the answer in the wrong places.  I want to share a few sentences from an author who has helped me along this journey:

God made us capable of craving so we'd have an unquenchable desire for more of Him, and Him alone.  Nothing changes until we make the choice to direct our misguided cravings to the only one capable of satisfying them. --Lysa TerKeurst

What are you longing after?  Are you putting Christ first in your life so that you can find those things you truly desire?  This is the one thing that made things click for me.  Because when I finally had my priorities straight, I found exactly what I was looking for.  God wants all of me so that He can give me the desires of my heart.  I don't need food to fill that void.  I need God.