Can God Really Help You?

When God first revealed to me that worship was related to eating problems I have to confess to being surprised. I was mystified as to how the two could be connected. Even if they were connected, I couldn’t see why worship would be so high on the priority list when trying to lose weight. However, as I prayed about this further I began to understand.

The word worship is derived from worth-ship and means to give worth to something. We worship someone or something by giving honour and worth to it.

We were created to worship; it is the primary reason for our existence. Our souls desire to worship, they crave it. In fact, our souls are compelled to worship. We are designed and created to worship God. If we do not worship God then we will seek to worship something else, but it will never be enough and inside we will feel that something is missing.

As babies we instinctively know how to worship. A small baby is happy to lay in its mothers arms and simply stare at her. It trusts in her love and is affirmed through this. As we grow older we are meant to look at God in this way. However, instead of looking at God, we turn our faces towards other things and start worshiping elsewhere. One of the things we start to worship is food.

As I studied worship in the Bible I was amazed at how frequently the instruction to worship was given. Before anything important happened, God’s people were told to worship him. Why? Is it because God is an egomaniac who requires people to be on their knees worshipping him? No! We worship God for our own benefit. We are the beneficiaries of worship, not God. When we worship him, it allows him to come to us and give himself to us.

When we spend time in God’s presence, adoring him for who he is, we satisfy the craving within our souls. When we satisfy this craving with the right thing, the desire to satisfy it with the wrong thing, food, will leave.

Think about what or whom you worship. Here’s a clue......it’s what you spend most of your time thinking about. Is food one of these? How much time do you spend thinking about food?

Food is fuel for our bodies, that’s all. Yet, so often we give it a higher priority in our lives than most other things. If you drive a car, you will know that you fill it up with fuel when the tank is low. People would think you a bit strange if you spent all day thinking about when you were next going to fill up your car, drove around all the fuel stations trying out different fuels, talked about the different types of fuel or service at the pumps, or even the location or decor. Imagine if you woke up every day and your first thoughts were ‘where am I going to fill my car up today, I wonder how much it will cost and how many miles I will get to the gallon’. Somebody would probably say ‘Oh they worship that car’. Stupid I know, but this is what we are doing with food. We are meant to fill up our tank when it is low, not spend all day thinking about (WORSHIPPING) it.

Today

It’s time to stop worshipping food. You need to replace it with worshipping God. Determine to spend some time every day worshipping God and begin today. To worship God you simply need to shut out everything else and focus on him. Begin to adore him for who he is. If possible, it is a good idea to listen to praise music, but if you can’t do this, just sit quietly with him.

You may be very busy, but this is important, so prioritise. Somewhere in your day you will be able to find at least 5 or 10 minutes. It may be first thing in the morning or last thing at night. It may be on your way to work, listening to your ipod on the train or playing praise music in the car. At lunchtime go and find somewhere quiet to be alone. If you are at home with children, there will be some way to find a few minutes alone.

Worshipping God is a huge step forward in your battle with food. Do it!