It’s an honor to fill the role of “guest-blogger” on this Mother’s Day. Sorry, I won’t be giving you a rundown of what went into my tummy today. Fiona has taken the day off, but asked me to post about an ongoing conversation we have been having about “appetites.” I pray that these rambling thoughts might encourage and inspire you in some way. And if, at the end, you think I’m crazy, you can just tell me so. Not all of these thoughts are original to me, but it would take too long to thank and mention everyone who has helped me learn bits and pieces of this. :)
Appetites. Appetites are natural things. God has designed our bodies to have appetites and for them to be satiated. They are good, healthy desires to have – in moderation and in the right circumstances.
There is a story in the Old Testament that puzzled me for a long time: the story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob in Genesis 25:29-34. I’d suggest you give it a read if you haven’t in a while. Here are the highlights: Esau comes back from work really hungry. Jacob has been cooking a stew. Jacob offers him the food in return for his birthright. Esau agrees.
Jacob and Esau essentially traded places. Jacob would now function as the first-born in a patriarchal society. That was incredibly huge! The greatest part of the trade was probably that Yahweh would become the God of Abraham, Isaac, and… Jacob. Perhaps that could have been Esau – if it weren’t for his decision to trade his birthright for a bowl of stew.
WHY?!? What could possibly make Esau do this?
Answer: His appetite.
His body told him that he was hungry and that he would die if he did not receive sustenance that very minute. Was that true? Probably not. But he apparently didn’t have the power to tell himself – his own appetites – what he needed to. He couldn’t say, “NO!”
Esau did not manage his appetites well. He did not control them – they controlled him.
On some level, I think we all can relate. As foolish as Esau’s actions appear, I know that I have done and said the same as he when my appetites have raged. I have made foolish decisions just to satisfy an out-of-control desire.
We all have our appetites. I am not just talking about food, though this can be a real challenge for a lot of people as it has sometimes been for me. And these appetites when constantly fed and never controlled, grow larger and larger until they dominate our lives! Suddenly, you wake up one morning to find that you aren’t in control. Your appetites own you.
How are you and I doing at controlling our appetites? Are we in control of what we eat or do we just put in our mouths whatever our appetites crave? Is our appetite for sex out of control? Is it leaking out of the proper boundaries of our marriages? Do you crave money, power, influence, a career, a relationship, acceptance, value, beauty, respect, etc.? How close are you to waking up one day realizing that you have traded your life for a bowl of stew?
You see, our appetites have tremendous power. And they can have immeasurable consequences.
We are who we are based on how we have managed our own appetites and how others have managed theirs. We make decisions that hurt ourselves and others have made selfish decisions that have hurt us too. Anyone who has been the victim of abuse, divorce, rape or any other form of betrayal knows what I am talking about.
Are you and I controlling our appetites or are they controlling us?
There is a true story of a former missionary who had been invited out for breakfast and coffee by a pastor. The missionary thanked him and said, “I’ll take you up on the food but I’ll decline the coffee.” “Oh, you don’t like coffee?” the pastor responded apologetically. “No,” said the missionary intensely, “I love coffee! But I have learned the value in saying ‘no’ to things that I want have. I often practice this with food and drinks, like coffee. That way, when I am in a much more serious situation and my desires are wanting to rage out of control, I will have hopefully practiced saying ‘no’ to myself often enough.”
That story moves me. What a wise and insightful man!
Let me bring this discussion back to normal life for Fiona and me. Like this missionary, we have recognized a connection between our desires for food and other appetites.
We have realized how untrained our appetites for food have been. We haven’t practiced saying “no” to ourselves in… ever. We just ate what we wanted to when we wanted to. And you know what? A lot of our other appetites experienced the same free reign!
But as we have been saying “no” to all kinds of delicious foods over the past week and a half, an AMAZING thing has been happening. We have felt more control and power of our whole bodies and desires, not just over our food cravings. Our will has reemerged. Our overgrown appetites are shrinking. Practicing saying “no” has caused more of our sumo-sized appetites to go on a detox diet as well.
We obviously attribute this to the incredible work of God in our lives! His Spirit has graciously empowered us for this development of discipline!
By learning to control one of our wild appetites, we are gaining control over other areas as well. By not eating candy, we are more able to tell our eyes that they can’t have “candy” either. By not allowing chocolate into our bodies, we are learning to keep more junk out of our minds too. Our appetites are shrinking. We feel a sense of control coming back to our lives. This is wonderful! Praise God!
If you haven’t thought about this before, I hope you take some time to think about your appetites. Where are they under control and where are they not? To what do you need to practice saying “no”?
I am still learning much of this. I DO NOT have this down. I still want go to eat a giant bacon cheeseburger with fries. But my eyes have been opened to my unchecked appetite for food and how it affects the rest of my life. Our appetites are incredibly powerful desires that will shape and control us, unless we learn to shape and control them.
All the best,
Scottland
P.S. I'm sorry if this all sounds a little sermon-y. I'll blame the preaching class I took this semester. ;-) Trust me, if anyone needs to be preached at here, it's me.
.JPG)
.JPG)
