Girl, eat something! {Diets, junk food, and “life to the full.”}

Tell me if I’m alone in sensing this.  What is it about food that it can bring us such joy and at the same time, such angst?  Why is it that as women, in particular, we seem to struggle with the whole world of diets, junk food, and “life to the full” – with feeding both our bodies and our souls with real food?

Recently in doing some research on a women’s ministry where acquaintances had raised concerns, I watched their theme video for the year called, “To the Full.”  Something about the video rubbed me the wrong way. It was meant to inspire women and it was filled with good deeds and uplifting stories. Women bought groceries, took a family clothes shopping, did a mini-makeover on a home, hosted an appreciation party for a friend. All of these things are good things for us to do. Fun things. Worthy things! But something about the video made it seem as though those things were the source of the fulfillment each of us longs for.  It’s as if, once we pull ourselves together, form a girl posse, and do awesome things, our hungry hearts will be filled and our loneliness and ever-present sense of missing something will magically disappear.

In a consumer society, where we can buy anything we want at the drop of a hat, it often seems to me as though we seek our fulfillment in “good things.“Click To Tweet In a world where girl power is a thing and in a country where we have so many freedoms, it’s easy to get our hands on feel-good books, feel-good foods, and feel-good “stuff.”  If our hearts desire a thing, we can buy it, make it, eat it, watch it, or at the very least, pin it, and we feel temporarily “full.”  And that’s a nice thing, right?

I love creating a lovely space in my home for others to be blessed. I love utilizing all my senses to create a delicious meal that’s nourishing and beautiful and of course, delicious. I love putting together an outfit that makes me feel confident but understated (I hope!) and I find joy in doing that for my family and friends when given the chance!  I may find joy in working in the church nursery, teaching a Bible study, donating to a worthy cause, reading an excellent book, listening to a moving piece of music, or lighting a candle, grabbing a cup of amazing coffee, and chatting with a good friend.

All of these, in context, are good things.  God has allowed us to enjoy these things here in the “Shadowlands,” as CS Lewis has called our earth, and we can enjoy them while appreciating God, who gave them. 

But there are two ways things can get sticky. 

We are, I believe, meant to delight in the things God provides.  His word, after all, does say, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).”  Right? 

• First of all, what if we DON’T get those things our little hearts desire?  What if God takes away those things, or allows them to be taken away?  What if my car breaks down, my job is dissolved, a church friend betrays me, or my child gets cancer?  What if my marriage is unfulfilling or What if I can’t seem to conquer a certain struggle or overcome an illness or afford the home I need?
• Second, what if I begin to see these delightful things as necessary? If they become a needed source of comfort and I’m left unsatisfied unless I hunt and procure them? What if I come to believe I deserve all the delightful things I long for, and I’m angry and disillusioned when I don’t get them?

 

What are your sources of delight?

Really, list them!  These sources of temporary delight were meant to point us to the ultimate fulfillment our hearts long for – an eternal connection with the God who made us. When we try to find life in the things that are meant to point us to LIFE (that is, eternal life, and a fulfilling life on earth because it’s lived in perspective of that), we will be left starving every time.  So all the “good things,” even the healthy, noble, beautiful, inspiring things we might enjoy or do, are small and unsatisfying unless we enjoy them as a little gift on top of our ultimate Gift, the saving, transforming love of God displayed through Jesus, in His death and resurrection, and in our surrender to Him.  Nothing, and no one, will satisfy outside of Him, and the more we seek satisfaction from temporary things before or apart from Him, the more our souls will starve.

So what if I don’t feel blessed?  What if I look at others and my life, compared to theirs, doesn’t look “to the full?”  What if I don’t get the things my heart desires, even the good things?  What if I do get those things and I still don’t feel full?

Is God still good?

This is where the idea of “life to the full,” as portrayed in the video, breaks down. 

My daughter and I were discussing the video (and a few other concerning things about the direction the ministry seems to be taking), and a quote from the director.  She references John 10:10 to connect the dots, making a point that God wants us to enjoy all the delightful things.  (And hear me, friend, He DOES bless us, in thousands of ways big and small, and sometimes we miss them because we don’t have eyes to see!)

But the point hit home when my young adult daughter said to me, “They're missing the POINT!” The main point isn’t, “our life, to the full,” it’s JESUS CAME, for our life. Our FULL LIFE is HIM!'Click To Tweet

She’s right! We aren’t meant to find our fullness in all the “good things.”  We are meant to find HIM, and He is our fulfillment.  Everything else is frosting!

I recently heard these thoughts from GK Chesterton:

“Merely having an open mind is nothing; the object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”

In an era where every time there is conflict of opinion, we resort to exhortations to have an “open mind,” I think it’s important to connect the dots between eating good food for our bodies, feeding our minds and souls good food, and living for a purpose that goes way beyond our short-term satisfaction.  So we may need to challenge things that don’t ring true (ie: the video I link above), because we may need to encourage one another not to SETTLE for less than all God has for us.  He IS the something solid.  He is the object of all our desire, if we have eyes to see, a heart to surrender, and the courage to run after Him with all that we are.

It is only in the context of understanding Him, that we understand who we are and what we were truly made for.

It is only in delighting in our Maker, our Savior, and our Redeemer, that we find ultimate fulfillment.  We do that by spending time with Him, and He’s provided a way to do that as He teaches us about Himself in the Bible.

John Piper gives us some practical insight on how to do just that – how we can delight in God as we delight in His word.  In other words, we can feast and fill our souls, when we feast on God as He reveals Himself through scripture and teaches us by the Holy Spirit.

I love this:

1) pray for new taste buds on the tongue of your heart
2) meditate on the staggering promises of God to his people

(-John Piper, How to Delight In God’s Word)

Rather than settling for “you do you,” thinking, let’s look deeper. Let’s go beyond making nutritious and delicious recipes and beyond the basics of church-going and quiet-time doing. Let’s ask ourselves to get real about what we believe about the truly GOOD. 

There is SO MUCH MORE waiting for us when we move beyond diets, junk food, and “life to the full.”  When we let go of our hope that we’ll find fulfillment in the smaller things, and relentlessly pursue the One for whom we were made, THEN we will find life TO THE FULL.  That will be life beyond our best efforts, our sweetest experiences, and well beyond our wildest dreams.

Inspiring (HUNGRY) welcome,

Angela

Want more encouragement?

Thoughts on delighting in God and His word (so good)

These are just some of the thoughts that have come from Refined Journey, and I’ve still got so much more to learn!

I mentioned earlier the research I was doing on the international women’s ministry where I often speak.  This post on MOPS International is where my journey began (actually, when my young adult daughter brought me this podcast episode for discussion).  If you’re interested in researching, there are some resources above where you can find more information.