Sunday, January 26, 2014

Permissible But Not Beneficial


Romans 8:28-29   And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

God is always at work in our lives and he uses our every day struggles and trials to grow us and help us become more like his Son, Jesus.
It is no coincidence. It’s God lovingly working in our hearts and for our good.
Our family was recently hit with the realities of living life with a food allergy. We have had to come to grips with changes, restrictions and limitations. Through these struggles we have learned to be very conscience of what we are eating.
Leading up to this point, we have been slowly cleaning up our food choices, like removing processed foods, cooking more from scratch, eliminating artificial flavors, colors and ingredients. So it’s not like we were just eating whatever suited our tastes. But we were enjoying the occasional cheat of a quick dinner or store-bought sweet treat now and then. 
However after the allergy revealed itself, we had to rapidly educate ourselves on ingredients and become very aware of every bite taken.  If we weren’t sure we couldn’t risk it being eaten. And forget the occasional cheat.  It may sound silly but we grieved the life we once knew and had to come to terms with our new normal. 
In Chapter 2 of Made to Crave Lysa talks about dismantling her tower of impossibilities- brick by brick- one craving at a time and using those same bricks to build a walkway of prayer, paving her way to victory. 
God is listening to our prayers and he is lovingly working in our lives to pave a path for us to becoming more like his Son, Jesus. 
I have learned how to walk thru struggles and trials with food. Now I can use that same path with God’s grace to overcome my other struggles. We know what foods we can have now. And we can face the fact that we still must make better food choices. Just because it is permissible doesn’t make it beneficial.

2 comments:

  1. I am so very sorry your family has the struggle of a food allergy. I am so thankful the LORD is guiding your family in this trial and that you are leaning on His strength as your family learns to deal with your new normal. Praying God will continue to keep you strong in this and that others will see Him through you. Thank you for sharing with today.

    In His love,
    Pat (OBS Blog Team)

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  2. Wow. That is incredible. I cannot imagine having to rework life around an allergy and yet, I know so many who do. Thank you for sharing your heart. Reading this reminds me of how blessed I really am, because I may eat things that I should not because they are not beneficial, but I have not had to worry about any being truly detrimental to our health. God bless you. :)

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