Too Much of a Good Thing Christian

Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it. Proverbs 25:16

Have you ever had too much of a good thing? I know I have and my mind goes directly to food. For being a compulsive overeater for too many years to count, I connected more with food than I did with the people in my life, that I worked with, and my Lord and Savior. Food had become a false god for me, thinking it would heal my aching soul and take my pain away.

I remember the times that I encountered a preferred food that was available at a given time in abundance, especially around holiday meals. I would fill myself up on that food, because I might not get it again for a long time. Then, I would wait until it went "down to my toes," so that I could get another plate of that desired food. Sometimes, I would even follow that later with another plate, but would go home feeling nauseated. That's too much of a good thing! 

Once I started turning my compulsive overeating and stressful situations over to Christ's capable hands to heal me, my life turned completely around. I no longer had to be a Too Much of a Good Thing Christian, where I let things of the world, whether food or possessions possess me instead of turning to the Lord.


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Less is More Christian

Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith. Proverbs 15:16

This is a case if less is more. Being an overeater, I can carry that one step further. Having less food while following God's will for our lives is far better than having lots of food and having to deal with the resulting: depression, lack of self-esteem, feeling isolated, etc.

It's been over 30 years that God has allowed me to keep off the vast majority of the 80+ pounds that I had lost through His saving grace. Christ saved me from myself. I was turning to food in times of crisis, joy, stress, and everything in between. Food had become a false god to me, because I was turning to it rather than to God.

Over 30 years ago, I told God that I was giving up and that if He ever wanted me to be thin, He'd have to do it, because I couldn't do it any more. At the time, I think I was just working toward self-acceptance, because I just figured that I was always going to be heavy and might as well give up fighting it. Well, it was that very same day that Christ stepped into my life on a whole new level and saved me from myself and my self-destructive pattern with food.

Have I perfectly followed my food program all these years? Unfortunately not, but God is right there to pick me up when I down a half bag of tortilla chips. I want to be a Less is More Christian and Christ is there to remind that I don't want to revert back to the way things were and shows me that He is the better way to resolve stressful issues. When I turn my stress over to God's very capable hands, my life falls back into place again. Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith. Proverbs 15:16

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Cut Me Some Slack Christian

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

 Some times, I think I live my life hoping that God looks only at the good things I do on His behalf and turns a blind eye on the evil things I've done that I'm not proud of. I guess I'm a Cut Me Some Slack Christian more times than I would like to admit.

The thing is, God takes everything in, the good and the bad, but still forgives me if I remember to ask Him to do so. He's not just turning a blind eye, but loves me in spite of all my many flaws and shortcomings. He loved me enough to send His only Son, Jesus Christ, to give His life to save me from my many, many sins.

God loves me in spite of my compulsive overeating and turning to food instead of to Him in times of stress. God loves me in spite of my gossiping or being judgmental or being short-tempered or ....and the list goes on and on. I am so truly blessed to have a Heavenly Father who sees all and loves and forgives me anyway. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Know-It-All Christians II

Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? Job 38:33-34

God is speaking to Jobs’ friends who seemed to think they knew exactly what God would tell Job and mistakenly attempted to speak on God’s behalf. God wasn’t too keen on these men trying to be know-it-alls, sharing the thoughts of what God would say to Job during his many trials.
Well, some of us, myself included, give the impression that we are “Know-It-All Christians.”  We might convey that we know exactly why God has done or not done something, as if we are privy to God’s plan.  This got me to thinking. I wondered if it sounds to readers that I know exactly why God allowed me to lose the 80+ pounds over thirty years ago and to keep the majority of it off all this time.

First of all, I may make it sound like it happened all of a sudden. Well, it kind of did and it kind of didn’t. How is that for an ambiguous answer? It seems like for six months before God made the miraculous change in my eating, He allowed me to see just how much negative power food had in my life. It controlled how I felt about myself. It affected my relationship with my family, my friends, and with God. When I was turning to food instead of turning to God with all my stress, etc., I was cranky with my family. I shied away friends, and was reluctant to go to church where people could see me in my BIG clothes.

It’s like God had me see these things in slow motion, so that I could note how food, the thought of food, and Satan were controlling my life. I saw my reaction when my daughter wanted green apples to share with her friends and I got upset with her, because those were MY special apples, although I said I needed them for the family. I saw when I ate three egg sandwiches, which I’m not extremely fond of, and the third one fell on the floor, mayo side down and how I put it back together and gobbled it up, amazed that I would do something like that. These are just a few of the examples that I’ve shared in much earlier posts. The thing God was showing me was that Satan had a stronghold on me through my food. I was turning to food when stressed, happy, etc. rather than turning to God, which means that food had become a false god to me.

Then one day, I gave up. I had tried my “good diet” and gained weight on it when I hadn’t varied far from the diet plan. I sat down one day and told God that I give up and that if He ever wanted me to be thin, He’d have to do it, because I couldn’t. The interesting thing to me was that I really wasn’t expecting God to do anything for me. I was just giving up. I think, but don't exactly know, that’s the first time I had ever totally given up the power of my overeating and turned it over into God’s very capable hands. God took the desire to eat large amounts of food away from me that same day. I no longer craved sweets and carbs. It is a miracle and I’m very blessed.

Although I don’t have all the answers, all I can do is to share the insights that God’s shared with me along the way, hoping that they will be helpful for you, as well. I also feel strongly that if God can do this for me, He can do it for you, in His timing. Don’t give up. God may be giving you lessons about the power that food has in your life, like He did me. Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? Job 38:33-34


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Sneaky Christians

And the children of Israel did so, and gathered [manna-bread from God for the Israelites], some more some less. And when they did mete it with an omer [unit of measure], he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. Exodus 16:17-18 

This passage may not seem significant to most overeaters, but it is to me, since I try to apply the Bible passages to my life whenever possible. The Israelites were supposed to collect an omer of manna for each member in their family. But there were some like me, who are fearful about running out of food, and tried to collect more than the allotted omer of manna.

Fortunately, God sees through us Sneaky Christians, and evened out the playing field. In His miraculous way, God made it so that those who tried to sneak more manna, ended up with the exact amount they were really supposed to take. Those who had smaller appetites and gathered less than the required amount ended up with exactly what they needed. No one had over what they should have had and no one had less.

Another thing that amazes me is that God knew what the Sneaky Christians had done. He didn't embarrass them in front of their peers like kids would have done if you took two cookies at school when everyone was only supposed to take one. Fortunately for me, God sees through my weaknesses and moves me to be open to the changes He wants in my life. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered [manna-bread from God for the Israelites], some more some less. And when they did mete it with an omer [unit of measure], he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. Exodus 16:17-18 


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.