Day Eighty: Dependent

The other day I was looking for something random… I can’t recall now what it was… but I came across this article about how the internet has some websites that promote eating disorders. A sad truth, and unfortunately not one that probably surprises any of us. But I kept seeing the article mention anorexia and bulemia (mainly because these are both disorders that “allow” someone to become extremely thin and so someone might have a website on “how” to be extremely thin)… and it just made me start to think… when will overeating be in that list of widely recognizable eating disorders. Because in my opinion, America’s obesity rates are not due to McDonald’s and Pop Tarts (although, it certainly can be said that neither of those are helping the obesity trends), but due to overeating. Whether it be overeating at three meals a day, overeating by grazing all day, or overeating by not eating all day and then consuming way more than needed in one sitting, overeating is the cause.

So I began to read a bit on the internet about overeating. And that led to me reading a Wikipedia page about Sugar Addiction, and one part in particular I found to be interesting. As the article explained a bit of research done with rats in which they were given sugar water and the rats ended up doubling their intake of sugar water by the end of the experiment. The article said, “It would probably be more correct to refer to the laboratory rats referred to above as ‘sugar-dependent‘ rather than ‘addicted.'”

I’m not going to harp on the idea that “Yes… sugar IS an addiction!” It felt like an addiction when I got started with it in the sense that I simply could not stop myself from eating it. That was all I needed to call it an addiction. But that is actually opposite of my point, because I think that the term “sugar-dependent” is actually more appropriate for what I’m going through.

Because… I was dependent upon sugar. It was my friend when I was alone. It was my joy when I was bored. It was my comforter when I was sad. It was my peace when I was stressed. It was my healer when I was sick. I needed sugar… to get through life. I was entirely dependent upon it.

And because of that… I was notdependent upon God.

God is to be my friend, my joy, my comforter, my peace, my healer. And He can be all of those things, but when I was allowing sugar to be those things instead, I never even gave God the chance. And because of that I was not getting to experience true friendship. true joy. true comfort. true peace. true healing.

And now that I have been “off” of sugar for eighty days, I can definitively say that He is all of those things… but way, way better than I imagined! I have learned to rely upon Him more completely (and I say “more” completely because as much as I want to give Him all of my struggles, I am not quite there yet… one covenant at a time, friends, one covenant at a time! Haha!)

And here are a few verses that remind me that I can depend upon Him… I particularly like this first one…

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalm 34:18

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. Psalm 18:2

We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it… as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us… and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us. 2 Corinthians 1:8-10

And this one might seem sorta random, but Eqypt could easily have been my Sugar…

What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt (Sugar) for help, trusting their horses (sweet tastes), chariots (sugary buzz), and charioteers (constant supply) and depending on the strength of human armies (sugar to never talk back, say anything negative, or call me out on a sin)… instead of looking to the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 31:1

Now, look at it this way…

What sorrow awaits those who look to Sugar for help, trusting its sweet tastes, sugary buzz, and constant supply and depending on sugar to never talk back, say anything negative, or point out a sin… instead of looking to the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

God is the only One I want to depend on. God is the only One that I can depend on. And God is a way better… well, a way better EVERYTHING than sugar can be for me.

So, I’m moving from being “Sugar-dependent” into “God-dependent”!