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.
