“A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how food nourishes him.”
C.S. Lewis
We are constantly looking for things that will satisfy us in life. As I get older, I am seeing that whatever it may be we are looking for to fulfill the desire we crave, never ends up sustaining us. God has a plan for every one of our lives. He created everything for our good and if we learn to distinguish from what is good and not good, we will live full lives. In Genesis, the story of creation tells us so much of what we need to know to sustain life. Everything was created for our good. What He has provided for us to become nourished is the very same thing that will sustain us through life. I am talking about spiritual, emotional and physical well-being. He has supplied us with our every need. We have been given the gift of life to steward in who God is. We can’t do this properly without knowing what God had furnished for us before we were thought of. We must fully rely on our Maker if we want to live complete lives. God has left many resources to handle whatever it may be that comes against us in life. The key is to know who He is to be able to start using these assets. Anything can become an idol if we put it before God. People, places, things, you name it—YES! You can have too much of a good thing and suddenly realize that you’re never satisfied. The enemy, our accuser, wants us to end up on the not-so-good end of things so we can’t accomplish our assignments on earth.
Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you Genesis 1:29 NASB
Let’s take food for example. We have so many choices. Have you ever thought about a cheeseburger and suddenly found yourself in dire need of filling this instant impulse? Back in the old days, nothing was instant. There was no immediate gratification. Everything took time but was also whole and fresh. Today we lose so many of our nutrients from the way our food is processed, thus leaving us full but malnourished. God provided food for us that was loaded with all the vitamins and minerals needed to sustain us to live strong, healthy lives.
What we are doing today in this fast-paced world is setting our eyes upon the next best thing that consumerism has to offer. Before we know it, we are anything but sustained. The Western world has many ailments that other places in the world don’t have. Cancer is on the rise. Heart attacks, strokes and diabetes are forerunners too. We have lost sight of what God has told us in His manual for life. Our eyes have turned to what the world has shown us as which has decreased our life span and made us feel anything but healthy. We are tired, overworked, under exercised, and have lost all of our spunk because of lifelong bad eating habits. We have tried to get ahead but instead have set ourselves back.
God always intended for us to be healthy, but we have chosen the quick fix in all areas of life. Nowadays you can get anything you want at the push of a button. You don’t even need transportation to get what you want. The world has made it so easy to get what you want when you want it. It is good and it is bad. In the meantime, our food has changed drastically. It has become so fast paced that the more we give into our desires for what the eyes see, we are finding an increase in health-related complications.
I don’t know about you, but I feel as if I am having an epiphany moment! I am at the age where I want what God has had for me all along. There is no quick fix. I have learned it’s a marathon that builds the last. He shows us this all throughout our lives. Not just in the example of food but when we say yes to Jesus, it becomes a ladder approach. First we believe, then in faith we take the plunge. Through faith we receive the fruition to keep moving. It is all a process. It takes our entire lives to rid ourselves of the ways of the world. We learn how to keep and release through our relationship with the Lord. Scripture reveals tools that help to keep us pure and sealed from the evil tactics of the enemy. When we realize who we are in God, it is through redemption, grace and mercy that we learn how to eternally sustain our lives in Him. There is no quick food in the natural world that can give us what our Father has to offer. If we learn to root ourselves deep within Him, we will be able to endure what life throws at us. He sustains us and by His grace we are sanctified each step of the way!
The real problem is that our eyes must not sway from the One and only God, our Father, the keeper of our souls. Something as simple as food can become an idol when we earnestly desire it. The outcome is never good when we give in to our fleshy desires, whatever they may be. Our earthly senses tell us we will be satisfied. When we cultivate from what God has supplied on the earth for us through His Spirit, we then are directed to the kind of nourishment that sustains our bodies, our minds and spirit. It is an all-encompassing event and is everlasting.
Another great article! I was just thinking of writing something myself on “instant gratification”…how things these days are under appreciated because all we have to do is push a button for heat or air, get upset if we can’t have our favorite “whatever”…and on it goes.