Calorie-Free Comfort Food

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The sky had been grey for days. It wrapped like a canopy, hanging low and moist and dismal. Turning my gaze from the outside to the in did little to improve the view. Like reruns of I Love Lucy that played in shades of grey on my grandmother's old TV, life between my four walls looked equally colorless.

Nothing was terribly wrong, but nothing was terribly right, either. Just blah.

Do you ever get discouraged for no apparent reason? Woman's Day blames it on hormones, and they may be right. Web MD diagnoses it as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and there may be something to that as well. Many of us self-diagnose and decide we need comfort food to shake us out of our lethargy and moodiness.

What's your favorite comfort food? Pizza? A triple mocha frappuccino with extra whip? Potato chips? Or the always loved, often craved, and sometimes stashed chocolate?

As I pondered what my indulgence would be that day, I decided to try two new comfort foods. One was sweet, the other savory.

 
My first comfort food was even sweeter than honey:

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth," writes King David in  Psalm 119:103. David was a man often chased by the demons of doubt, discouragement, and depression. To combat these dark forces, he feasted on the comfort food of God's Word. He fellowshiped with God's people, and sang worship songs to the Lord.

Filling his mind with biblical truth, especially the psalms of praise, was a powerful antidote for David's doldrums. Psalm 73 is a beautiful testimony of how focusing on God's truth instead of his circumstances completely restored David's perspective.

The second comfort food I chose to indulge in was also one of Jesus' favorites:

 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work," (John 4:34).

Jesus knew what we accidentally stumble upon -- that we are most satisfied when we take our eyes off ourselves and place them squarely on God's work in the world. Instead of being inwardly focused, God calls us to turn our eyes outward, to his mission and ministry.

"Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus," says Philippians 2:4-5.

Dr. Gary Chapman puts it this way: "Happiness is the byproduct of giving your life away to help others. The happiest people in the world are the people who serve."

So next time you're suffering from the "Poor me" syndrome, or feeling discouraged or depressed, join me as I indulge in God's comfort food--sweet or savory, it's the most satisfying of all. 

Best of all,  it's calorie free :)



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