Freedom With Food
We’ve just come to the end of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week here in the UK. As part of this event, I interviewed a couple of guests on our afternoon programme last Friday, who have both had personal experiences of anorexia and bulimia.
It was an amazing thing to hear about the power of God working in the life of this man, Joe. As a teenager he had suffered with both anorexia and bulimia, and after years of battling and being in a mode of self-destruct, he eventually got to the stage where he did not want to go on. He’d lost the desire to fight, and to live. At that point he cried out to God.
“That’s it! I’ve had enough of life; I don’t want to live anymore. I used to know you but I feel like you are so distant now. I don’t even know if you are there, but if you are … and if you can do anything with this mess – then I’ll give you my life.”*
What happened next was full on. Joe experienced the tangible presence of God enter the room. He fell on his face terrified. At that moment, he was given a vision of heaven and looked into the eyes of Jesus, which he described as being full of compassion and love.
After years of being hopelessly bound by this battle, God supernaturally empowered Joe in the recovery process.
Joe’s illness was clearly defined as anorexia and bulimia, but one really interesting point to come out of the interview was that many people suffer with disordered forms of eating and exercise behaviour, and distorted perceptions of body image, but their struggle remains undiagnosed.
The clinical term for this is ENDNOS which stands for ‘Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified.’ This refers to disorders not severe enough to fit within the classifications of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating.
There are over one million people in the UK who suffer with a clinical eating disorder, but how many more fall within this “sub-clinical” area?
I wonder what a sub-clinical disorder might look like? Maybe it refers to those of us who feel guilt and discomfort over missing an exercise session perhaps, and whose thoughts are dominated by the food we will and will not eat on any given day? Maybe it refers to those of us who are enslaved to rituals surrounding our eating, who are preoccupied by everything we put in our mouths, and who use exercise as a form of purging? I am not sure, but I certainly can relate to some of this problematic behaviour surrounding food, exercise and body image which I wrote about as part of The Beauty Series last year.
If any of us do struggle in these ways, the overwhelming message of the interview was that there is hope and recovery is possible; both through the practical support of organisations such as ABC, and, as Joe’s case shows, through the healing power of God. Joe concludes:
“This year I celebrate 10 years of being totally set free and want to live as an example of what God can do when we entrust our lives to Him. Who knows what great plans God has for your life? What I do know is He calls you to greatness, to a life that will blow your mind, cause the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up on end, give you goose bumps and leave you breathless.”*
*Reference: “Spotlight – Eating Disorders in Men and Boys,” Lifeline – The Magazine of ABC (Winter ’07)
God reminded me tonight how important vigilance is. Even though we may gain victory in an area, it doesn’t mean that we are immune to falling back into it. Matthew 26: 40-41 says “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” The command here is WATCH and PRAY. Keep your eyes open and ask God to help you not fall into sin. We must be vigilant, not only because our flesh is weak, but also because the enemy is strong and is looking for someone to devour!