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December 30th, 2010
08:00 AM ET
My Take: When the fat girl got mad at God
By Lysa TerKeurst, Special to CNN Three years ago I was stuck in a rut of wishful thinking and excuses with my weight loss. At the beginning of each day I would say I wanted things to be different. I would vow in my heart to make things different. I would even make a plan to stop the snacks, increase the veggies, and say no to the desserts. But then life would happen. And the excuses were so very plentiful. So, my resolve would melt away like butter on a hot yeast roll. Of course the next morning I would always get up and weigh myself hoping that somehow magic would have happened over night. Despite my indulgences from the day before, maybe just maybe the numbers would have gone down. But the scale was not impressed with my wishful thinking. So you know who I’d get mad at? God. I’d beg God to help me one minute while scarfing down an order of fries the next. And then I’d be doubly mad He didn’t steer my car away from the drive-thru. I deemed myself a victim of tragic genetics, overactive taste buds and a stomach that demanded large portions. What I failed to realize for years is there was a much more significant issue going on with me. More important than the ever increasing size of my jeans was the deception going on inside my heart. My weight was outside indication of an internal situation. There was a crucial spiritual situation that needed to be addressed. I was relying on food to be my comfort, my ever present help, my guide, the thing that got me through the valleys and the first thing I wanted to celebrate with in the good times. Honestly, I might as well have taken Psalm 23 and replaced the Lord’s name with various food choices. My proper little Christian self would have never expressed that out loud. But my body wouldn’t keep secrets. I had an issue. And the ever increasing size of my body demanded the REAL issue be addressed. I don’t write to point out anyone else’s issue. There are certainly medical situations that can cause weight gain. But my issue was truly a spiritual one. And no diet would have ever been permanently successful until I got to the real root of my problem. The root of my issue was craving food more than God. I desired and depended on the instant high of physical gratification because I hadn’t learned how to let God satisfy my deepest needs. God wasn’t causing my weight issues as some sort of cruel consequence for my poor choices. Dr. Floyd Chilton who teaches at Wake Forest University of medicine wrote an article that said, "Your willpower is in constant battle with your genes and your calorie-excessive environment. Often your best efforts are no match for your genes and environment which is why so many diets fail so miserably... Will power alone is not enough to bring about this change; start by realizing that can not do this alone. If you are a person of faith, use that connection to help you change." So, I set out to understand what the Bible says about how to consume food without food consuming me. I started in Genesis and read through the Bible with an appetite for truth rather than chocolate, chips and cheeseburgers. This was a spiritual journey that yielded great physical benefits. I lost 25 pounds in 4 months but more importantly, I have kept it off for nearly two years. That’s a first for me! Now, I sense my weight issue was actually a gift in disguise. I never thought I’d say that. And yes, three years ago I would have rolled my eyes at someone saying that too. But I don’t say it as a Pollyanna lollipop girl with too much air between her ears and no cellulite on her hiney. Learning to turn to God to fill my soul instead of food to overstuff my emptiness, has changed more than just my jeans size. It has changed my outlook on life. I did lose the extra weight I needed to shed and kept it off. But the real reward was what I gained with Jesus in the process. He became the best part of my journey. And I wouldn’t have missed this new found closeness I now have with Him for anything in world. “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food,” Romans 14:17-20. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Lysa TerKeurst. soundoff (1,314 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Editor's Note: Lysa TerKeurst is president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and author of 
CALCULEMOS.
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AUSTED LO LLAMAN AL DIA AL MENOS 5 PERSONAS, VERDAD POR QUIESTIONES DE TRABAJOS.
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HAGAMOS LO MISMO QUE EN LAS ELECCIONES, POR QUE USTEDES EN LAS ELECCIONES, POR QUE A USTEDES
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I don't agree with atheism, but I don't search out blogs about atheism and bash them for their non-beliefs. It takes MUCH effort as an adult to do what kindergarten teachers call "kid-write" and on purpose misspell God. Lysa, thank you for letting God uae you to speak to so many...Christian and atheists! Like you said..."It's better to be criticized than ignored." As someone who has spent time with you and knows of your love for Jesus, I want to join the war of words on your behalf, but instead I'll just praise God for where He is leading you in this journey. Keep focusing on His truth...for really, those are the ONLY words worth believing. Oh, and along with anyone who supports P31,of course I know that message signed by "Holly Good" was not our Holly Good. 🙂 Love, Lelia
I don't go to exclusively Christian sites any more either. They ban you the moment you start asking questions.
Religions! Ha, ha, ha.... Sheep are always sheep!
Maybe it is time to look inside yourself and see why you need to overindulge in food or religion, and see what you are hiding from yourself.
Oh shut up. You are just exchanging one crutch for another.
Thanks, Lysa, for sharing your story, and kudos to CNN for posting it. I look forward to reading the book, "Made to Crave", and growing in Christ in 2011. It really takes struggles in life sometimes to realize how much we depend on God's grace and mercy. For those non-believers out there, I've been there. I can debate points about the Bible, creation, and scientific studies all day long, as I see have been going on in the comments above for some time. However, experiencing a personal relationship with God is more than enough for me. God bless! My prayer is that His love continues to show in this world through the love of His people.
Amazing article, Lysa, I agree!!
God and 'Spirituality' can become a drug just like food. It's just becoming more acceptable to be radically following christ or whatever for the high. I see many people, christians, become god-junkies. In between fixes they are low-down and depressed. They can't wait to do the next extreme act in the name of their god. I don't see that as a good thing.
I think it's so awesome to see the diversity of the people reading this. The atheists, non-believers, etc are really seekers, I believe, because afterall, they are reading the belief blog – cool! I'll be praying they find Him.
Thanks CNN, for including Lysa.
" The atheists, non-believers, etc are really seekers, I believe, because afterall, they are reading the belief blog"
Well, I thought that I explained that well enough in previous posts, but I guess you must have missed those. Ah well!
The 'belief' blog is about everyone's beliefs, not just Christian beliefs. You believe in one set of things, other religious folks believe in other sets of things and we atheists generally believe that you all are mistaken about some things, like the true nature of the supernatural and why believers believe in what they do. That's our 'faith angle', that subjective religious faith is not based upon rational grounds. Sorry, but that's the way we see it.
Besides, a goodly percentage of the stories here reference atheism directly. Certainly those stories are not purely for the enjoyment of believers like you. Still, if a Christian were to comment upon an 'atheist' story would that imply that they are 'seeking' something from the atheist perspective, or just giving their own? Giving our own perspective is what we atheists do within articles like this.
That said, I do seek one thing, and that is credible objective evidence or convincing argument in favor for having faith. I've been confident in my atheist position for a long time now, but I go with the principle that once you have made up your mind on something you must seek out all proof against what you believe, to be sure you are not mistaken. That's being open-minded and unafraid of being proven wrong. I've read a lot of posts by believers here and, so far, my confidence in atheism remains strong.
I think NL pretty much nailed it in his response above, especially in his last paragraph, but here's how I summarize why I spend time in this blog:
– keep an eye on the crazies
– correct erroneous statements
– provide alternative view to sky daddy religions
– entertainment provided by mental gymnasticts of believers propping up their books of silliness
If we can save just one person, especially a child who has not yet been indoctrinated into their "birth cult" from religion, it's worth it!