The Lie That Restraint Makes Us Want More

My attention is diverted from the onion I was chopping.

(Insert eye roll) “Here we go again,” I thought.

Garrett is crying, overtired from the school day, and Rory is staring at him in disgust.

Then he shouts, “I want that book! It’s my turn!” His eyes are fixated on the drawing book that Rory is using to make a frog.

I tell him he’ll get his turn after his sister finishes up.  

He then proceeds to go into hysterics, in which I calmly prompt him to have in his room. In and out he walks from his room only to sit back at the table, obsessing over that book.

Let’s be honest. The drawing book is fun, but not super impressive. It doesn’t even tell a story. It just shows you how to draw simple animals. Yet, the little guy is howling like a possessed coyote.

But how often do I focus, magnify, lust after what I want?  

“You want that. If you don’t get it now, you’ll just want it more. Don’t wait. Don’t deny yourself. Take it right now.”

This seemingly innocent and small lie the enemy loves to whisper to us because it trips us up most of the time.

I hear this a lot from women that have tried intuitive eating.  

If you don’t know what intuitive eating is, let me fill you in. An intuitive eater is defined as a person who “makes food choices without experiencing guilt or an ethical dilemma, honors hunger, respects fullness and enjoys the pleasure of eating.” (https://benourished.org/intuitive-eating/)

Basically, you eat when, what, and however you want basing it on how you FEEL…

It sounds nice and lovely, but it isn’t biblical.

Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not allow anything to control me.  1 Corinthians 6:12

Yes, you have the choice to eat anything. BUT what your choice has consequences that you can't just ignore because you feel like it.

Most women are controlled by food instead of being in control of food because they have just eaten at every feeling (emotionally and physically).

Example:

I LOVE dark chocolate. According to a lot of experts, it’s not all that bad for me. But once I start with just a few chocolate chips after supper, my mind will fixate on those delectable morsels. I will keep returning for more and more without even realizing it.  

Instead, if I just say no and intentionally sit with the discomfort of not having them for a minute or two, I can forget, walk away, and not return.  

AS LONG AS I DON’T LET MY MIND BE CONSUMED BY THEM. In other words, as long as I control my thinking.

That’s where the enemy gets us. He keeps whispering to us, so we put our focus on food and not God.   

He draws our focus to food that hinders us instead of focusing on food that builds us up (physically and spiritually).

“I want that. If I don’t have it now, I’ll just want it more.”

What do we do with this lie from the adversary? 

Magnify the things I’m-glad-I-have/had.

Like, “I want those chocolate chips, but… I’m happy I had that stir-fry for dinner.  I’m thankful my stomach doesn't hurt right now. Good thing I have apples and peanut butter if I do get hungry.”

While this interrupt in thinking can be hard work at first, the more I do it, the easier it is to say no and praise God through it.

Now the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6

Do not set your mind on what you can’t have or what you want at the moment. 

Instead, set your mind on all the blessings now, and more to come when you choose restraint.