Comfort Food

Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed.

Amos 5:14 (NLT)

I don’t know about you, but I love “comfort food.” If you don’t know what that is, here’s the concept. Comfort food is stuff that you eat when you are feeling lousy. Boyfriend dumped you? Eat a pint or two of your favorite ice cream! Have a cold? Eat a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup! (That’s my go-to anyway) Stressed out? Eat something loaded with fat and grease! Comfort food is where we go to drown our sorrows.

Here’s the problem. Comfort food is terrible for you. Eating all of that stuff may make you feel better in the very short term. But, in the long run, all it will do is increase the size of your waistline, clog your arteries, and lead to a whole lot more problems than you had in the first place.  Comfort food may provide temporary relief, but it has long-lasting negative effects.

Unfortunately, we approach sin much like we do comfort food. When we feel stressed out, lonely, unloved, or unwanted, we look for a way to comfort ourselves, and Satan is very happy to help us out. There are literally millions of things that Satan can hook us up with that he says will fix the problem, or at least help us forget about it for a while. This is where we see our modern issues of alcoholism, drug use, self-harm, sexual sin (in its many forms), and, yes, gluttony (eating too much and making ourselves fat and sick). Satan promises that they will make our problems go away. But, sin can’t do that. Sin only amplifies problems.

Instead, God, speaking through the prophet Amos, put it like this, “Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live.” So, what does “good” look like? Stressed out? Talk to someone about it. Exercise. Go to the gym and get that heart rate up for at least 30 minutes every weekday. Make sure your prayer life is large and in-charge. Feeling lonely or unlovable? Sex won’t fix it. Find a small group, reach out to others with similar interests. Get plugged in to ministry at your local church. Being lonely is a choice. Not sure who you are? Plug yourself into the Word of God and see who He thinks you are. Let Him define you.

In short, pursue the good things God has provided in life and run from Satan’s counterfeit. Don’t get lost in drowning your sorrows. Get lost in the goodness of what God gives.