Focusing on Food Takes Your Eyes Away from What’s Important [Choosing Joy]

About this time a year ago, my weight was at the lowest point it has been since I was a teenager.  I had lost 30 pounds by refocusing my love for food to a love for God and by listening to the cues from my body about when to eat, what to eat, and how much.  Since I’ve been pregnant, those pounds have returned.

Somewhere along this pregnancy journey, I forgot to trust my body and God’s leading in how to feed it.  Expectant women are faced with so many rules about what you can and cannot eat.  Some say you should eat tons of protein.  Others argue that everything must be organic.  Then there is the group that encourages women to go ahead and splurge because this is the one time in your life when it’s cute to get fat!  Having gestational diabetes, I juggle a whole different set of rules.  I am encouraged to limit my carbohydrates and eat on a schedule so that I can test my blood sugar four times a day.  It is all so confusing and overwhelming.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:25, 33 (NIV)

This is my reminder that God knows what my body needs and what my baby’s body needs.  I don’t have to worry about lists or the latest nutrition fad.  All I have to do is tune into the body system that God gave me, and He will take care of the rest. I can follow His lead even with something as ordinary as food.  No more worries, no more food focus.  Only joy and peace!  Praise God!