I used to work for GNC. I sold vitamins and work-out supplements. For some reason, it seemed most people shopping there thought I was a nutrionist or dietitian and based on some of the disclosure I received, I think some people thought I was a doctor (I never knew about menopause, prenatal vitamins, or hysterectomies was until I started working there...thank you to all the +50 year old women who shop at GNC). Obviously, I am none of these.
However, I learned a lot about diets, supplements, vitamins, and how the body reacts to many of the things we put into it. One of the interesting tid-bits I learned was that if you eat 4-6 small meals (on a balanced diet including veggies, fruits, complex carbohydrates, good fats (GASP!...they do exist) and proteins) in a given day, it increases your metabolism which increases your energy levels, awareness, and brain function. I once told this to a truck driver who was about 35 lbs. overweight and had no time to work out. After taking my advice on what a proper diet is (no more Ho-Hos or Philly Cheese Sandwiches from the truck stops), 6 weeks later he came back and I couldn't recognize him...he was SO skinny!
Did you know that the average American consumes just under 4,000 calories a day? It's no wonder that in 2009 around 26.7% of Americans were overweight and in 2008, 16.9% of our children were obese...and all indications are the numbers are escalating. (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm59e0803a1.htm?s_cid=mm59e0803a1_e%0D%0A)
(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_child_07_08/obesity_child_07_08.htm)
Why am I mentioning all of this? I believe the escalation in the obesity rate of our society is pointing to something far more sinister than our lack of discipline in diets and excercise.
Not to toot my own horn, but I used to be pretty disciplined in fasting. Now don't get me wrong...I don't think fasting is the key to reducing the obesity rate of America, but please...bear with me. In the last 2 years, I have gotten away from fasting as a spiritual discipline altogether and it's been more to my detriment than anything. Through encouragement from others in the Body, and the Holy Spirit's leading, I am re-instating this discipline in my spiritual journey once again.
One of my favorite verses in scripture is Jesus' response to the tempation by Satan after fasting for 40 days (one day of fasting for me and it feels like my stomach is trying to eat my liver and kidneys). Jesus' reply to the temptation of trying to feed himself is amazing: "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matt. 4:4) Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. Here's what is in the context of that passage:
"Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
Isn't that crazy? God 'caused them to hunger' so that HE could feed them and teach them to depend on HIM alone! What if God did that with the American church? What if you didn't know where your next meal was coming from or how you would be able to feed your family? With our ever-increasing love of food, wouldn't we be even quicker than the Hebrews to complain and rebel? How dependent are we on God alone? I believe our waistlines testify that we don't really rely on Him as much as we say/think we do.
Food is just one example of thousands of ways in which I attempt to be dependent on myself instead of God. It's amazing how incapable I am of loving God and others when I have that gnawing pain of hunger in my gut. It's in these times in which I am slowly (and often times painfully) learning that I don't really live on bread alone, but on God and His commands...His words...His truth.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
From discomfort to discouragement in 3.2 seconds
Comfort zones. We love them. We will fight for them and protect them at almost any cost. I have been pondering this for some time now. I think of them as layers and layers of padding we put up around us to protect ourselves from...well, from discomfort. What do they look like? Well, it varies but here are some examples: eating excessively, working excessively, trying to never be alone, video games, pornagraphy, drugs, alcohol-abuse, working out excessively, reading excessively, seeking another relationship with the opposite sex, buying stuff you don't need, etc. The list obviously goes on and on.
God is constantly trying to break us out of these so-called comfort zones. Why? Is it because He pleasures in seeing us writhe in agony as we try to crawl back into our self-made, pain-preventing layers like a worm trying to wiggle back into the soft, moist soil? I don't think so. I am learnig that God hates our comfort zones because of where they come from: the sinful human heart.
Pain. We hate it. We do almost anything within our natural resources to prevent, avoid, and treat the pain we experience in life. The strange thing is that pain is truly unavoidable in this world. We ALL will experience pain, whether emotionally, physcially, mentally, relationally, and spiritually. No matter how good your upbringing may have been, we all have experienced pain on one level or another, whether past or present. If you don't believe this, then you're in the La-La Land of Denial. In the words of one of my mentors: "Get real dude."
Because we are naturally selfish creatures, we try to protect ourselves. So, instead of humbling ourselves and trusting God to protect and heal us, we grow self-focused and seek everything under the sun to take care of our hurts. ALL of us are guilty of this. You know how I know this? As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" (Romans 3:10-12).
One of the interesting things I recently learned about myself is that when I encounter discomfort of any kind, I will do one of 2 things: I will either try to immediately self-medicate or I'll try to figure out why I'm uncomfortable and when I can't figure out why, I will become discouraged in the drop of a hat....and then I'll try to self-medicate to deal with the pain of the discouragement. "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless" (Eccl. 1:2).
I claim to walk with God & yet I have done this for years. Why do I do this? Why can't I learn to just trust Him?? I know I keep coming back to this, but I'm learning that I haven't really believed the words of Jesus when He said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matt. 5:4). He's changed my heart about this...this promise is true...and I know it because I've experienced it. As I have let the pain of my sin, my hurts, and my past flood to the surface of my heart, He has comforted me, as a loving parent comforts their crying child.
"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land" (Psalm 37:7-9).
God is constantly trying to break us out of these so-called comfort zones. Why? Is it because He pleasures in seeing us writhe in agony as we try to crawl back into our self-made, pain-preventing layers like a worm trying to wiggle back into the soft, moist soil? I don't think so. I am learnig that God hates our comfort zones because of where they come from: the sinful human heart.
Pain. We hate it. We do almost anything within our natural resources to prevent, avoid, and treat the pain we experience in life. The strange thing is that pain is truly unavoidable in this world. We ALL will experience pain, whether emotionally, physcially, mentally, relationally, and spiritually. No matter how good your upbringing may have been, we all have experienced pain on one level or another, whether past or present. If you don't believe this, then you're in the La-La Land of Denial. In the words of one of my mentors: "Get real dude."
Because we are naturally selfish creatures, we try to protect ourselves. So, instead of humbling ourselves and trusting God to protect and heal us, we grow self-focused and seek everything under the sun to take care of our hurts. ALL of us are guilty of this. You know how I know this? As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" (Romans 3:10-12).
One of the interesting things I recently learned about myself is that when I encounter discomfort of any kind, I will do one of 2 things: I will either try to immediately self-medicate or I'll try to figure out why I'm uncomfortable and when I can't figure out why, I will become discouraged in the drop of a hat....and then I'll try to self-medicate to deal with the pain of the discouragement. "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless" (Eccl. 1:2).
I claim to walk with God & yet I have done this for years. Why do I do this? Why can't I learn to just trust Him?? I know I keep coming back to this, but I'm learning that I haven't really believed the words of Jesus when He said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matt. 5:4). He's changed my heart about this...this promise is true...and I know it because I've experienced it. As I have let the pain of my sin, my hurts, and my past flood to the surface of my heart, He has comforted me, as a loving parent comforts their crying child.
"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land" (Psalm 37:7-9).
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