Recently the focus of my prayer and my daily walk has been on allowing the Lord to be my comforter. I shared a bit called “The God of All Comfort” and this morning I am adding a few practical thoughts, and helpful things the Lord has shown me.
Here is a link to that Blog Entry: https://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-god-of-all-comfort.html
This morning I am looking at ways I can resist turning to other things for comfort. In scripture, we are told there are three main things we battle - the world, the flesh and the evil one. (See 1 John 2:15-17, Eph 6:12 for scriptural basis). In my life they all seem to swirl together, but are definitely something I am aware of in my life. The way I experience them is in the form of unhealthy appetites, and by that I mean desires that take me out of the will of the Lord, and healthy appetites. These are held up as comforts, but they are offering false comfort. One could say that I see the need to resist these false comforts!
For example, we all need to eat, and hunger is part of God’s creation of our bodies, to help us know when we need to eat, to provide fuel for our bodies. I have normal hunger, and I also have self-focused hunger, where I want specific things, even though I know they are unhealthy for me. I am trying to fill something other than my natural appetite. In my case it is abundant carbohydrates, specifically sweets. I have a terrible “sweet tooth”.
Medically speaking, my body had a tendency towards very high cholesterol, and eating carbs increases my cholesterol in my body significantly. This was discovered about 30 years ago when I weighed 20lbs less, and had an overall Cholesterol count over 400 and a triglyceride count 10x higher than normal. With numbers like those I was likely going to have some arterial blockage or heart attack, but from the outside I looked healthy. (If you want to read more about the body chemistry stuff I suggest reading “Protein Power” By Dr. Michael R Eades).
The solution to my internal body chemistry problems has proven to be limiting my carb intake, especially sweets.
I don’t like this solution! I want to eat sweets and other carbs, especially breads, pastry, cake, pie and candy!
This is my flesh talking.
For a few years I did pretty well, but then started eating more carbs, even rewarding myself (Comforting) with sweets for certain goals. As I ate more, I found I wanted more, and of course I ate more. One day the Lord stopped me and said something like, “you know the enemy is trying to get you to take yourself out by eating things that will cause you to have a heart attack and die!”
That stopped me in my tracks!
It had never occurred to me that the enemy would use such sly tactics in his attack on me. As I started paying attention to my thoughts more, I noticed that indeed it seemed like thoughts of certain desires would just pop into my head. Sometimes they would be triggered by ads on TV, but other times, I noticed they were more related to being bored, or one could say feeling an emptiness inside, and I was trying to ease that,or comfort myself.
For years since, I have worked to resist those urges, those thoughts, and just telling myself no. At times I do better than others, but it is a constant “battle”.
Lately the Lord, specifically the Holy Spirit, has provided me a better tool in resisting those thoughts and appetites. Lately He has had me speaking the truth of where those actions (eating what I shouldn’t) will lead.
When I am hungry, when I realize that I am having thoughts or urges to eat sweets, I say to myself, “Eating that will result ultimately in my death. It won’t be right away, but I will gain weight, I will get unhealthy and then I will have a heart attack!”
Amazingly, the appetite or urge goes away almost immediately!
I have found this technique works equally well with my other appetites. Speaking the truth, in contrast to the false pleasure or filling my hollow place that these appetites hold up, has helped me immensely in resisting the urge to turn to other things for comfort
In his letter to all believers, James gives us some really good advice found in James 4:7-8a NIV:
[7] “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
I find that when I resist, the urge, the appetite and the thoughts all disappear quickly. This leads me to believe that the enemy is indeed using these to attack me and try to get me to take myself out, however he can!
In summary, I have recently found great help in identifying those areas that are out of line with God’s plans and purposes, and healthy appetites, and started speaking truth to myself, rather than just trying to say no or resist. Speaking the truth, seems to give me much more to hold onto, and strengthens my will and self-control.
My prayer is that this is helpful to you in your efforts to follow the Lord, and make Him the God of all comfort in your life!
Amen and Amen!
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