Getting Beyond Abundance

... in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
2 Corinthians 11:27

Food is a part of our culture. Have you noticed that? It's ingrained. We eat to celebrate. We eat as we grieve. We provide food as support. We laugh, fellowship, and bond over food. There is something about food that is connected to almost every major and minor event in life.

I'm not sure how this developed, and know that we are not alone. There really is something about sharing a meal with people. It's intimate. It does help foster bonds.

I recently had the opportunity to go on my first international mission trip. I was blessed to go to Kenya, which I absolutely loved. They eat very differently than we do, and our hosts were very kind and conscientious to make sure we were well fed. At one point, we actually requested to be fed less. We had more than enough to be satisfied.

However, while there we were surrounded by people who not only didn't have enough to be satisfied, they often didn't know when or where their next meal was coming from. One of our team members, who's willing to eat anything, at a flying termite just to gross the rest of us out. We'd been teasing him for several days, but the truth of the matter is those abundant insects are what sustains many people from day to day. They truly are food.

Most of us can't even imagine it. It's one thing to be crazy enough to eat a bug, but it's another to be hungry enough to have to eat them.

The above verse, as Paul is talking about his hardships, reminds me of these people. They know true hunger and thirst, to the point of starvation. For the most part, we do not.

One day, I think I'd like to keep less food in my house. To eat what's there or get rid of all the extra stuff that accumulates over time. However, right now I'm not in my own house, so I don't have that authority. That's why it's important for me to learn how to limit my consumption with an abundance of product. To dig in, seek self-control, and remember - day to day - that I'm to eat for life, not live to eat. 

When I have some down time and get bored, that's hard to remember. When we're celebrating a birthday, that's hard to keep in the forefront of my mind. But it is a journey. A journey that won't be straight and pothole free, but one that I've committed to and will continue. Because I really do want to be healthy.

Even when I'm frustrated. 

Even when I'm exhausted.

Even when I'm overjoyed.

It's about being healthy. Taking care of my body. Honoring God and being here for my family.

So today, I will choose to eat for health, not live to eat.

Valuing Health

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis 25:29-34

On this food journey I'm on I'm learning many things. One of which is how much the Bible talks about food, eating, and gluttony. The story of Jacob and Esau is one very familiar to those of us who've been following Jesus for a long time. I really couldn't begin to count how many times I've heard this story. I've heard great teachings and expositions on it. However, today as I read through verses that could help me on this journey to health, this one stood out.

Most of us cannot relate to being so hungry we'd give up our inheritance for a single meal. We've never gone without food, unless by choice from fasting or dieting. Even when we break the fast or give up on the diet, there's generally a cupboard of food at our fingertips from which we can choose any number of prepared foods. Getting something to eat is simply a matter of opening a bag or box.

We might be able to relate more to the exhaustion part. Still though, the fridge, cabinets, and take-out restaurants hold a wide variety of easy, no-effort options. Even fatigue isn't a barrier to getting something to eat in our fast food culture.

So it may be difficult to understand Esau's desperation for food to the point of begging his brother and giving up his inheritance. However, there is plenty we've traded for food. Or, as I saw it put recently, "food-like" items that we continuously shovel in our mouths.

There have been countless times I've grabbed something quick and convenient because I'm tired or emotional or just plain lazy. I trade off a well-balanced meal for a bag of chips. I trade off vegetables and fruit for a frozen corn dog. The list could go on.

Can you relate to that? 

We don't think of these trade offs as costing us as much as they do. Really we are, just like Esau, trading off our birth right for quick and convenient food. Our birth right of health in Jesus. He came to give us abundant life and health, but we often trade that off for food that tastes good and feels good, but doesn't have any real nutritional value.

We eat things that drain our energy, add unhealthy fat, and even bog down our brains. We tend to eat things for our tongue and stomach instead of for the rest of our bodies.

This is one of the major discoveries I've had recently. I've known the "right" things and way to eat for a long time. I've even done it before. Over the last year I kept asking myself why I wasn't able to eat like that again. Consistently.

It goes back to the same principle we see with Esau. He allowed his stomach and fleshly desires to override what he surely knew in his head. I'm sure he regretted it afterwards, much as I've felt guilt over letting my flesh direct the food I put in my body.

What I'm learning, though, is that I really do desire to be healthy and that has to override my desire for quick, easy and pleasurable food. Every time I eat. That doesn't mean I never have something prepared or processed. It doesn't mean I don't have any treats. It just means that I feed my body what it truly needs to be healthy the majority of the time. It means I value my health over my taste buds. And it means I experience the blessings of health and energy that comes from consuming the foods that God so graciously has provided for us to consume.

Eating Freely

The worst part about getting healthy is usually the diet part. I suppose for some people it's the exercise part, but I actually enjoy exercise. Not every day do I enjoy it, and not every type do I enjoy, but enough to push through and do it until the enjoyment takes over.

For the last 10 months I've been exercising consistently. 30-45 minutes a day 5-7 days a week. And I haven't lost a pound. Well, truth be told, I've lost a few, found it back, over and over. But after working hard for almost a year, I'm at the same place I was a year ago.

This is because I haven't gotten my eating under control. Oh, I do on occasion. I do really well, then I hit a bad day, or a party weekend, or a buffet. Or boredom. I know this is where I need improvement and have committed to do better countless times. It just never seems to stick.

Now, I eat healthy stuff. I do pretty balanced and get my 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables in almost every day. The problem is, I eat a lot of other "stuff" too.

Sweets, even if not a lot of them, are around and available too much. I don't have a lot of control over this (currently living in someones else's house who happens to love to bake.) I do have control over what I pick up and put in my mouth however.

It's not only sweets, though. For Lent I gave up chocolate for 40 days and for the last two weeks, gave up all sweets. I didn't lose any weight. Because I like to eat. I actually enjoy it and am sure there are pleasure chemicals that release in my brain when I eat.

However, I'm eating for myself and my fleshly pleasure, not for life to sustain and maintain this body I have.

One of the things that I don't want to do, and have found doesn't work for me, is restricting a certain category of food. I believe God has given us a great variety of food for a reason. We see this gift of abundance very early on in scripture.

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Genesis 1:29-30

God has given us a great amount and variety of food to eat. The problem is much of what we eat today in our culture isn't really food. I know this in my head, yet I quite often still shove this taste-bud-tantalizing, brain-chemical-releasing stuff in my mouth. All the while knowing it is no good for me.

That's why my first goal in eating healthier is to try to eat real food. To reduce the processed, no-good-for me stuff that our grocery shelves are stocked with. I'm not unrealistic enough to believe I will completely avoid all processed foods for the rest of my life. Some may be able to do that, but it doesn't feel doable for me. At least for right now.

Reducing it, however, I think will be of great benefit. As I pray over what I eat (see post here), I aim to remind myself to be grateful for the food God has blessed and given to me to eat. That will hopefully keep real food going into my mouth, instead of what has no benefit.

I'm grateful for the reminder that food for sustenance and health is a gift from God. He has given us everything we need to take care of His temple. I know the acknowledgement of this, and reminder that food isn't for pleasure, but to be life-giving, is a great place to start.

A Journey to Health

It has been nearly a year since I posted here. Hopefully, prayerfully, I will not let near that amount of time pass again. I have not gotten on and stayed on track with pursuing health. I have all the information. I know what to do, but it's in the doing and doing consistently in which I constantly fail.

Maybe you've been there. Or maybe you're there now. You're discouraged. Wondering if you'll ever make it stick. Maybe you've given up on making it stick.

As of today, I'm publicly declaring my commitment to live a healthy lifestyle. I'd love you to join me on the journey, to walk with me, learn with me, and I'll even boldly ask that you hold me accountable and maybe even encourage me once in a while, as we all need it.

It seems as if I've made so many declarations that there is no hope for this one sticking. But this time there's going to be a major difference: I'm going to put God first in my health journey. I will pray over what I eat. I will battle and beat my flesh. I will seek out what His word says about eating.

I'm sure the process won't be linear. I'll have setbacks and off days, but I want my desire to be healthy, to take care of this temple God gifted me with, to be greater than the immediate pleasure of eating something that tastes good (or even great), but has no benefit to me.

Do you not know that you are God's temple 
and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16

I too often forget this. God indwells me. I am now (one of) the temple in which He's chosen to reside.

I'm not the perfect housekeeper, but if there was a physical temple building, I'm sure I'd desire it to be honored and taken care of. Why is it I desire less to take care of my body the temple? Because pleasure and desires of the flesh take over. I feed them too much - literally and figuratively.

I'm grateful for this reminder.

So as I begin this journey, I will keep 1 Corinthians 3:16 at the forefront of my mind. It is, after all, the Word of God, which is powerful and able to transform me.

I am God's temple, and I will seek to take care of it every day, every meal, every moment. It's that important.

Serving God in Tedium

"So Moses listed them, just as the LORD had commanded." Leviticus 3:16

Have you ever felt like God asked you to do something unreasonable or tedious? Has there ever been something that seemed illogical or just plain ridiculous? That's what I think of when I read this passage.

God asked Moses to list the names of all the members of the tribe of Levi by their families and their clans. This was a whole lot of people! There were three clans of Levi (descendents of his three sons). In one, there were 7500 males, in the second 8600, and in the third 6200. That's approximately 22,300 people Moses had to write on a list. Just in case you were wondering how many exactly is a whole lot of people.

I wonder why this was so important. I mean, the Levites were a special people. They were called to be priests for the Israelites. But do we really need all their names?

Yet, God saw it as important. So it doesn't really matter how we view this task. He certainly had a purpose for it. It may have been the process. It may have been to acknowledge these people He set apart from the rest of the Israelites.

Then I ask myself, have there been things God called me to do that I didn't see as important, but He obviously had a reason to give that task to me. I'm sure there've been more than I'd like to admit.

At times, I didn't see spending time in His word every day as that important. (I mean REALLY spending time in His word, not just reading a devotional or listening to 20 minutes of preaching while getting ready for the day.) Yet, as I have cultivated this habit, God has taught me more and more about Him, myself, and other people. He has also grown me and drawn me closer and closer to Him.

I also think about how this applies to my relationship with food. As a diabetic, for a couple weeks before I go to the doctor I'm to keep track of everything I eat so we can see what my body's doing and what it needs in the way of insulin. I usually do okay at this, but always miss a few days.

Sometimes, I even decide to do it on my own to keep track of what's going on. However, I never seem to stick with it. It falls by the wayside when other things crop up that seem more important.

How much stick-with-it did Moses need to write down 22,000 names? A whole bunch. If only I could be that faithful.

It's adventurous to follow God. He allows us to be a part of some great things. But sometimes He also calls us to do small, detailed, every once in a while even tedious things. We aren't as excited about these, but just as recording the names of the Levites was equally important as leading the Israelites across the Red Sea, we are to be faithful in everything God gives us.

This can even relate to our health. If keeping track of what we eat helps us to be healthier, then it's worth it. If keeping an exercise log keeps us accountable, it's worth it.

God gave us these bodies to serve Him and sometimes we abuse them without thought. Maybe being more faithful in the small things toward our goal of health will help us be better equipped for serving Him. It may be about the process or it may be about discipline or it may be about the actual record-keeping. Either way, what is God calling you to do today - health related or otherwise - that will take you on the next step to faithfulness?

Healthy and Strong

This is what I'm working on right now. I feel like I've been working on it a long time. Or maybe I'm just working on it again. It's like a roller coaster, this life of trying to eat healthy, be healthy, and lose weight. I'm sure many of you have been on the ride. While I have had ups and downs with my weight, what's more concerning to me is my ups and downs emotionally. Today I'm motivated. Right now I'm motivated. I might not be tomorrow. I might not be even tonight. When I sit down to dinner. Or it's quiet after all the kids go to bed and there's nothing that has to be done at that moment. That's when I want to remain strong. I want to remember my goals. Remember that I CAN DO IT.

I know I can do it. I've done it in the past. So, why am I not able to do it now? How come I haven't been able to do it for the last 5 years?

Because I want to do what I want and live off my emotions, wants, and desires, and still get the results I want. However, I know it doesn't work this way. I can't in my almost 40-year-old body eat like I did when I was a teenager. Metabolism does change (no matter how much we don't want it to) and our bodies change. My head knows this. Yet it hasn't seemed to get the message to my hands and mouth.

Because I want to do what I want to do. And get the results I want.

Maybe I need to tell myself this is a myth every day. Every meal. Every hour. Even though I already know it. I just need to be convinced.

I also need to convince myself that the sacrifices and self-discipline needed to reach my goals are WORTH IT. And I AM WORTH IT. I can improve my life, my health, my energy level if I'll SACRIFICE.

I know it. Now I just need to live it. Will you live it with me?

Stopping the Flow

"the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Aragah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho." Joshua 3:16

Water gives life. The flow of a river is what helps keep it alive and fit for life. The ebb and flow prevents stagnancy and helps measure and keep the rhythm God created. (Have you ever seen a pond that just sits? Gross.)

In this particular passage, we are getting the account of the Israelites FINALLY crossing the Jordan River into the promised land. After 40 years of wondering, complaining, learning about God, they are about to step into what was promised them decades and a generation before. Just as they had escaped Egypt and the Egyptian army via crossing a river on dry ground, God once again challenges the courses of nature He Himself set in motion to bring forth a promise to His people. I wonder why we don't talk about this parting of the waters as much as the first? Is it because walking across a riverbed on dry ground is old hat on the second go round?

Aren't we all like that with God's promises and His greatness? I know I am. I am so unfaithful to the Lord. Perusing the previous devotions for 3:16 I read things that I need to read again. things I fully believed at the moment, but didn't hang on to. Why is that? Why am I so weak? So faithless? So inconsistent?

I know part of the answer is my human sinfulness. However, I am a new person in Christ. The Israelites were God's chosen people. Yet I, like them, often overlook God's miracles and power even when they are right in front of me.

That's why I'm grateful for the opportunity to sit, read, meditate and reflect on passages like this. I blow by them too often, losing the full impact. It is a great reminder of the awesomeness of God. The love of His character. The grace He pours out when the river dries up.

I highly recommend you go back and read the full section of this story - found in Joshua chapters three and four. And that you reflect on and pray over what God is revealing about both Himself and us in these passages. Then let those truths sit in you and change you.

"He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your GOD." Joshua 4:24

Tracy