Overeating to Hide Fears

 
Fear is a major demon with 214 legs to kick us at every turn. Perhaps someone should kick us instead under the table to stop us from overeating because of fear. One of the major causes for overeating is that we are hiding our fears by overindulging.

Mankind’s problems began with food. What did Satan tempt Eve with? Fruit! Forbidden fruit. They had all the fruit they needed, but they chose to eat a fruit that God had forbidden. With all the fruit they could eat, it was not enough. They ate too much; they ate fruit they were not supposed to eat. I suppose we could call that in a special way overeating: they eat more than they were supposed to eat.

Like many people today, they follow Satan and the world to eat things they are not supposed to eat, things that are not good for them.

Satan convinced Eve that God was lying to her about dying from eating the fruit. He added, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5).

Besides the lie that they would become like God since they were already made in His image, Satan added another lie: God is hiding things from you. So the devil introduced fear. Eve was thinking, “I’m afraid God is not telling us everything. He’s hiding good things from us. Does He really love us? If He loved us, wouldn’t He tell us everything?”

In one way of looking at that first sin, Eve was hiding fears as she ate the fruit. We could probably call the sin overeating, since she ate one fruit too much. Why? Because she was afraid God was hiding things from her and Adam.

Proverbs 13:25 gives us some insight into the subject: “The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, But the stomach of the wicked is in need.” This is more than a promise that the righteous will not be in lack of food. It says the righteous will satisfy his appetite. It does not say the righteous will do more than simply satisfy his appetite. The implication is that he will eat enough, but not too much.

It takes twenty minutes for our stomachs to register what has been ingested in order to tell our brains that we are full, or that we could still use some more food to satisfy our appetite. Yet many in our modern, rushed society gobble down their food far too rapidly. Few sit down at a family table for special fellowship. They are not conversing with others as they eat, so they eat rapidly. They may eat much more than they should, and by the time twenty minutes has passed, it may be too late for their bodies to signal to them that they have been full and even over full already.

Learning from the French

I lived in France for over four years. I can assure you they don’t need to remember the twenty-minute rule. They take their time eating. It is a cultural phenomenon, a family tradition. My first invitation was from a lady member who lived close to the Eiffel Tower. We started eating at 11:30 AM, and we were still eating at 4:30 PM. I was thinking, “Are we staying for supper?” They have many small courses rather than a big meal with which you stuff yourselves in twenty minutes. At least that was the way it was when I was there. Our North American “all you can eat” buffets encourage overeating. We must not fall into that trap.

Don’t fall for that guilt trip your mother may have laid on you: “Lots of little children in Africa would love to eat what you just left. Eat it!” We should not take more than we can eat, of course. However, when the stomach signals it is full, we need to respect the warning.

I have enjoyed many a meal served by hospitable hosts in Africa. What I didn’t eat, I could literally say, “The little children in Africa can eat what I did not.” Normally we can’t say that when we eat our meals in North America. We should not be motivated by fear and guilt, but by love, loving others as we love ourselves. When we respect the temples of the Holy Spirit, our bodies, we are showing respect to the God who inhabits them.

God was quite particular as to who and what He would allow into the tabernacle or later, the temple. Nothing unclean was allowed. Should we not pay attention to what we allow into our temples that house the Holy Spirit?

So many people eat pork and seafood because everyone else does. They eat all sorts of things that are not good for them for fear of offending others.

They gulp down Coke, sugary candies, and go out many times a week for pizza so they won’t be classified as weird. They have to be like the others. They hide their fear of offending others by eating like the others.

Often people are plagued by fear of lack. They are assailed by financial problems, yet they go along with the crowd to the restaurants to eat out when they really do not have the provision for such outings. They see the food dished out and dish out the money, all the while hiding their fears of not having enough to pay the bill. They are overeating in the sense that they are eating large portions at restaurants for which they do not have sufficient funds. They go along with the crowd. Everything is based in fear.

Fear stresses the soul. Eating comfort food hides the fears and the rejection. They hide the fear of lack as they eat.

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