Cravings
Due to the ever increasing size of my waistline, and the recent appearance of some type of topping spilling over my already existent muffin top, I decided that it was time to get serious about this weight loss thing. Somehow it just doesn't seem right that someone that enjoys eating as much as I, should have to worry about this. I mean, good metabolism should automatically be given to those of us who love to eat!! My, how I love to eat!! It would be nice if I could be like my husband who will often announce at dinner that he forgot to eat lunch. Really? Come on? Who forgets to eat lunch? I wake up in the morning already thinking about what I will have for lunch,dinner and mid morning and afternoon snacks!
In the past I have done well by not eating any sugar and limiting my carbohydrate intake-so that is what I decided to try again. All the chocolate was eliminated from the house, but 48 hours later I was like an addict coming off crack cocaine, rummaging through every nook and cranny in my house for something sweet. That is when I came across the Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans! I opened the bag and stuck as much of my face in the bag as I possibly could and took a whiff – a minute longer and I could have inhaled half the bag’s content. Running into the living room, I threw the bag in my husband’s lap and shouted, “Hide the jellybeans and no matter how much I beg, do not tell me where they are!!!”
I fared well for a few days, but my desperation over the weekend almost drove me to the sugar bowl to scoop up mounds of the delicious white substance and shove it in my mouth!! Then I remembered the jelly beans.Marshall
How often do we crave all the wrong things? How often are we desperate for something just like I was desperate for my sugar 'fix'? For some it really is food, for many it is popularity, control, money, recognition, affirmation from others, success, sex, drugs, attention or power. What you crave will affect your behaviors and your relationships? What lengths have people gone to be popular? To get attention (even if it is the wrong kind of attention)? To obtain success? To be affrmed? Many of us have deep rooted insecurities and yearn for affirmation only to find that we just need more and more affirmation.
John tells us the root of these cravings,
It is as if we walk around with a heart shaped cup every day. We extend that cup to our spouses, friends, family, coworkers and even complete strangers like a beggar just wanting them to contribute to the cup. There are even those who are daily tithers. We just want to fill that cup, for we believe then we will be satisfied. Unfortunately, although there may be some temporary satisfaction, there is no lasting satisfaction. It may give me a 'fix' for my craving but there is no real lasting fulfillment.
God wants to be the one that we run to with our cravings. He wants us to empty out our cup and let Him be the one that fills it. In one of my favorite passages, the psalmist says,
In the past I have done well by not eating any sugar and limiting my carbohydrate intake-so that is what I decided to try again. All the chocolate was eliminated from the house, but 48 hours later I was like an addict coming off crack cocaine, rummaging through every nook and cranny in my house for something sweet. That is when I came across the Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans! I opened the bag and stuck as much of my face in the bag as I possibly could and took a whiff – a minute longer and I could have inhaled half the bag’s content. Running into the living room, I threw the bag in my husband’s lap and shouted, “Hide the jellybeans and no matter how much I beg, do not tell me where they are!!!”
I fared well for a few days, but my desperation over the weekend almost drove me to the sugar bowl to scoop up mounds of the delicious white substance and shove it in my mouth!! Then I remembered the jelly beans.
How often do we crave all the wrong things? How often are we desperate for something just like I was desperate for my sugar 'fix'? For some it really is food, for many it is popularity, control, money, recognition, affirmation from others, success, sex, drugs, attention or power. What you crave will affect your behaviors and your relationships? What lengths have people gone to be popular? To get attention (even if it is the wrong kind of attention)? To obtain success? To be affrmed? Many of us have deep rooted insecurities and yearn for affirmation only to find that we just need more and more affirmation.
John tells us the root of these cravings,
"For everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father, but from the world." 1 John 2:16
It is as if we walk around with a heart shaped cup every day. We extend that cup to our spouses, friends, family, coworkers and even complete strangers like a beggar just wanting them to contribute to the cup. There are even those who are daily tithers. We just want to fill that cup, for we believe then we will be satisfied. Unfortunately, although there may be some temporary satisfaction, there is no lasting satisfaction. It may give me a 'fix' for my craving but there is no real lasting fulfillment.
God wants to be the one that we run to with our cravings. He wants us to empty out our cup and let Him be the one that fills it. In one of my favorite passages, the psalmist says,
"O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirst for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and glory.
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live
and in your name I will lift my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you."
Psalm 63:1-5
As we long for Him-crave Him- then He will begin to satisfy us in ways that are beyond our imaginations. He begins to fill the cup of our heart and meet our desires in ways that our spouse, family or friends are unable. He alone provides true lasting fullfillment.
Comments
Post a Comment