Struggling with a Sugar Addiction
My addiction to sugar used to be so bad, I would hide candy in my sock drawer. I tried to stop eating it, but the cravings kept coming. I’d tell myself, “just one Toosie Roll. Just one Hershey’s Kiss.” I’d eat one but could not resist the temptation to eat another, and another until there was only half a bag left. I also craved baked goods and pretty much anything with lots of sugar. This went on for about ten years.
I knew it wasn’t healthy to eat so much sugar, so I finally started praying about it. I’d ask God to help me stop eating so much candy.
One day I got the idea to eat grapes and strawberries when I got a sugar craving. Sweet fruit proved to be a great substitute for candy. Eventually I stopped buying it and found I no longer craved candy. But when Halloween came around, the kids’ Jack-O-lantern buckets full of treats lured me, in and pretty soon there were ten empty candy wrappers on the table in front of me. Once again, grapes and strawberries became my best friends, rescuing me from the temptation.
But I still had a problem with cookies, cakes, and fruit juice. Frustrated at my failure to overcome this addiction on my own, I turned to Jesus again. This was about a year and a half ago. I also asked a close friend to pray with me. While she was praying, I heard these words in my head:
You tend to go to sweets for comfort.
But I want you to come to Me.
Woah. That’s so true. I do.
I opened up my journal, wrote what I heard, and spent some time reflecting on this truth. I asked Jesus to forgive me, and sensed Him nudging me to go on a fast from ALL sweets. Cold turkey. I thought about this idea for a couple of days but wasn’t too excited about doing it. A couple of days later in his sermon at church, our pastor just happened to mention Jesus fasting in the desert and explained the significance of fasting.
“Properly understood, fasting becomes a powerful tool to discipline us in the art of saying “no” to our appetites. God uses our most essential and strongest physical appetites to shape our spiritual appetites. The process of refusing to eat and allowing hunger to go unsatisfied actually heightens our spiritual senses with clarity and vision, increasing our capacity and awareness for God, not to mention our absolute dependence. Starve the flesh, feed the Spirit.”* – Pastor Brian Morgan
I smiled as I heard him talk. That was God’s confirmation that yes, I should go on a fast. Now.
That was November 11, 2012. Thanksgiving and Christmas were right around the corner. Knowing how difficult this was going to be, I decided right there in the pew that I’d go on a two-month fast from all sweets. I told God, “if I’m going to do this, I need Your strength and will power, ‘cuz there’s no way I can do this on my own.”
Amazingly, I got through the holidays without eating one bite of a sugary food! I knew I’d done it not in my own strength, but in His. I marvel at how loving our God is and how He just wants us to come to Him with any problem we have so He can guide us through it.
As of now, I no longer have cravings for candy, but I do crave time with my Lord.
Thank you, Jesus, for rescuing me from my sugar addiction.
Update: July 2016
Once again, I’ve been craving sweets. I’ve fallen into the trap of reaching for a chocolate chip cookie, a brownie, or just one M&M from that yummy trail mix. Of course, one M&M never satisfies and quickly turns into a handful of those candies in my mouth before I can stop myself.
And once again, I hear my Lord reminding me that what I really crave is that sweet time with Him. Yes, it’s true, I long to be deeply satisfied and comforted by God, and I often forget that only He can fully satisfy.
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*Sermon: The Battle Only He Wins http://pbcc.org/learning/sermons/?sermon_id=1544
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