Winning the Food Fight. 5 Unhealthy Patterns for God-Honoring HabitsSample

I was the queen of stress-eating. It was a pattern in my life that led me to binge on ice cream as soon as I put the kids to bed at night. My burdens and responsibilities felt overwhelming, and the cool slip of sugary cream down my throat was a pleasurable escape. Until it wasn’t. Eventually, it caught up with me. My autoimmune issues flared and my health began to decline. Talk about stress!

This devotional reading may be coming at a burdensome time in your own life. Maybe your to-do list is long, and you are short on time. Expectations from your spouse feel unjust, or you received a promotion you aren’t sure you are qualified for, or perhaps you have said yes to too many things. Like many others, you probably have little downtime scheduled into your week, and the pace you are pushing through is bringing you to your breaking point.

And so, like me, you turn to food.

Food does not manage your stress. You do. The Holy Spirit does. If stress triggers you to eat, you aren’t alone. When we eat because we are stressed, we turn food into something it was never intended to be. We hope it will function in a way it can’t possibly function, and we seek momentary relief from a temporary source instead of lasting peace from an eternal Provider.

Exchange your stress for peace. In the Bible, we are told that if we want to love life and see good days, we must “seek peace and pursue it” (1 Peter 3:10–11 NIV). We don’t find it at the bottom of a bottle or bag of chips. Which peacemaking strategies do you need to pursue today? Take the time to journal, pray, or call a friend to help you filter your emotions in a healthy way, and recognize that your emotions are meant to serve you, not enslave you. You can love your life and see good days. Your habits will lead the way.

Prayer suggestion: Dear God, I know that I have been giving in to stress and my emotions instead of turning to You for help. Thank You for always forgiving me and loving me, no matter what I do. Please take my burdens from me as I cast all my cares on You today. Give me victory over my unhealthy patterns of thinking and behaving. In Jesus’ name, amen!