The God of the Stomach

"It's not good to eat too much honey, and it's not good to seek honors for yourself.  A person without self-control is like a city with broken down walls."  Proverbs 25:27-28

I've been looking for verses that correlate with food as an addiction and I came across this one recently.  What struck me about the first line is that it puts eating too much with selfish gain. 
I had to think about this for a minute.  How do overeating and self-centeredness go together? I had to sit and peel back the covers to see what was underneath.

Not so much as how they go together as it is what is happening in both cases. For me, when I eat too much and when I want to toot my own horn, it's because I am feeling inadequate.  There is something inside me that is driving to seek something to soothe my insecurities.  In every case, in every time, I am trying to fill an emotional hole with food or accolades.  Neither one do anything to satiate for any period of time.  The moment I am filled, the hole voids what has been put there and the feelings of guilt on top of anxiousness are left in its place. 

But what about the second line?  How do they go together?  A person ridden with guilt and fear has little defense when they are sent scrambling to find anything to bring stability and comfort.  The consistent state of this kind of pattern would leave anyone worn and in most cases, feeling depressed and defeated.  The purpose for God bringing these insights together is simple. He doesn't want us to fall victim to these patterns.

Where then, do we find this stability, this foundation by which we stand on when trouble seems to come from every direction at times? How do we gird ourselves when the pangs of "not good enough" always seem to come at the worse possible times?  God leaves his instruction on the antidote as well. It reads:

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt.  Open wide your mouth and I will fill it." Psalm 81:10

If you are tempted to open your mouth and fill it with food you don't need, then instead open the mouth of your soul and ask God to fill it.  Even in the moments where you feel as though "OK, I prayed and nothing happened", be still and know that He heard you. Walk away from your fridge in faith and trust that what you avoided would not have made you feel any better if you had given in again. Go brush your teeth and find something positive to do knowing that God will provide for what you need if you give Him a chance.