DISTRACTIONS: FOCUSED ON FOOD?
If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes … (Matthew 6:25 MSG).Are you focused on food these days? Yesterday, I mentioned a few things that distract us from seeking God first, like clothes, food, money, friends, or our circumstance. Today, let's focus on food.
Food, food, food! Why am I always focused on food? Either I'm overeating, dieting, or trying to feed someone else! There is not one day of my life that I don't focus on food at some point. But how do I know when my worries about food distract me from my spiritual focus?
Needs. While we were seminary students, I first discovered how to deal with my own worry about food. We lived on a much lower income than most of our family and friends at that time. Sometimes we didn’t even have enough money for the food that we needed for our family.
Miracles. God captured my attention, as I saw Him provide in miraculous ways for some of my friends. Groceries would be left on their doorsteps. Money for food would arrive in the mail. Or they would discover some random source of free food—like day-old bread or vegetables discarded from the grocery's produce department.
Tips. Intrigued by my friends' stories, I talked to God about our situation. And I discovered many tips for stretching my food budget with recipe ideas and coupons. My friends and I found that we could all stretch our food budgets by sharing our resources. When we gathered together for a meal, each family would bring their menu contributions.
Manna and quail. In Exodus 16:4, “God said to Moses, ‘I'm going to rain bread down from the skies for you. The people will go out and gather each day's ration. I'm going to test them to see if they'll live according to my Teaching or not’” (NLT).
I joked at times about identifying with the Israelites in the wilderness as God provided manna and quail for them to eat. But as I experienced God’s providing for my own family, like He did for His children in the Old Testament, I searched for more answers to my everyday problems in the Bible.
Traditions. Before my seminary days, I never thought about asking God to provide for my family's needs—especially our food—although we did teach our children to express their thanks before our meals. So, I examined my past mealtime prayers and Thanksgiving blessings. Could they simply be a family or religious tradition? I realized that I had never offered my mealtime prayers with a heartfelt gratitude for God's blessings.
Diets. I still struggle with worry and my spiritual focus in the area of food from time to time. Even now, as I try to eat a healthier diet, I realize that I must stop and ask God for direction every day—sometimes moment-by-moment—as I seek answers to my problems and needs in this area of my life.
Clothing. I hope you will join me again soon, as I examine another possible distraction—clothing.
Photo/JenniJordan
Have you ever worried about your food? What did you learn?
More "Distractions":
Posted by Karen Jordan at 31 Jan 2012 
Categories: Equipping Disiples, Encouraging Spiritual Stories
Tags: children encouragement writing prompt faith remembering Christian blessed family memoir promises lifelong learner distractions focus worship
Categories: Equipping Disiples, Encouraging Spiritual Stories
Tags: children encouragement writing prompt faith remembering Christian blessed family memoir promises lifelong learner distractions focus worship
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