When caving into food temptations causes you to trade your birthright for a pot of soup – and what to do about it.
I’ve heard that God provides a way out from temptation in 1 Corinthians 1:13, but I’ve not fully understood just how this works. I mean, how many times have I stopped to think about food choices, even prayed for help with walking away from a Hershey bar, but ate the chocolate? Many times.
You can buy the Made to Crave 60 Day Devotional on Amazon, or check out the abbreviated version on YouVersion.
Food Temptations: Desperation Breeds Defeat
Lysa TerKeurst notes in the Made to Crave devotional that desperation brings about defeat. An example of how this applies to food choices appears in the Genesis 25 when Esau foolishly trades his birthright inheritance for a bowl of stew. Esau says he is starving at the time when he was merely very hungry. And, he gave away his future security to his brother in exchange for stew.
It’s easy to shake my head and think Esau was an idiot. There’s no way I would make such a trade. However, I trade my health today and into the future every time I give in to sugar. Sugar causes more severe health problems than simply weight gain. With my autoimmune disease, eating to fuel my body in a healthy way is critical.
What temporary pleasure have I craved so much that I gave up lasting victory?
Lysa TerKeurst
The Way Out from Temptation
1 Corinthians 10:13 says God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. God will provide a way out from temptation. Sounds great, but like I said earlier, I didn’t get how this worked for me.
Here’s the key: The way out God provides is my free will and ability to decide in advance what I will eat. If I take some time each day to decide what snacks and meals I’ll eat, I’m far less likely to find myself hungry and vulnerable to poor food choices. If at least one snack per day is portable so I can choose to eat that instead of the Hershey bar, well – that’s the optimal solution!
God provides for me. But, I have to take action. Oh, He’s done some amazing things in my life without my help, but God does not make me a puppet. I make decisions and I act on them. Reading the Made to Crave devotional gave me a “lightbulb moment” today!
Healthy Food Planning Tools
I have been using Plan to Eat (affiliate) for over a year to plan meals and snacks. Plan to Eat is a mobile app and website that clips online recipes and makes it easy to add them to a calendar. You can also create a shopping list after you plan meals. Adding snacks to the planner ensures that I do not get hungry between meals and blow my diet.
Another option I recommend is the Habit Nest Nutrition Side Kick Journal. I used another Habit Nest Journal to develop the habit of a morning routine that makes me far more productive during the day. The Nutrition Side Kick Journal is based on research to help with weight loss and adopting lifelong healthy eating.