What does your facebook newsfeed look like lately? If yours is anything like mine it is mainly
pictures of delectable desserts and luscious meal ideas that you must try. In fact, some nights it seems that food is
all I see on my news feed. Of course, it
may be something you barely pay attention to, unless you are hungry, but for me
it stands out like a bright flashing light.
The problem? I have food
allergies and 99% of those recipes are completely off limits to me. For the most part many of them have so many
different items in them I cannot have; I am not even able to make
substitutions. Ugh!
I’ll admit there are times I think to myself, “If I make
that and eat it just this once, how bad a reaction will I have to suffer
through?” I know that none of my
allergies are life-threatening, so my reactions are going to only be
uncomfortable. I suppose if they were
life-threatening I would never, even have that thought. Then, I get sick without eating them and
suffer the same debilitating results and remember, “Oh yeah, I DON’T EVER WANT
TO GO THROUGH THOSE SYMPTOMS AGAIN!”
Just like my current situation. I
was in the Doctor’s office yesterday and left with a diagnosis of
sinusitis. I have been miserable for
almost a week now and boy has it brought back memories of 20 years of
agony! Drainage, coughing, ears stopped
upped and feeling like I am under water every morning, clearing my throat
constantly….NO THANKS! Within 48 hours
of completely cutting dairy out of my diet….it all stopped.
I now live a life free of dairy and gluten (I also have
Celiac’s disease)! Some days it is a
difficult chore just to find food to keep me alive. For the past four years I have lived on meats (pure meat, no processed luncheon
types), vegetables (frozen or fresh since they have no additives) and fruits. Now, cook with those and be creative without
falling into a rut!
There have been many, many days since my diagnosis, that I have been so hungry I have literally cried and asked God,
“Why do I have to go through this? It is
too hard!” I am laughed at for carrying
a large lunch box everywhere I go.
“Hungry there?” people say to me. If I
had a dollar for every time I have explained why I must carry a larger lunch
box than everyone else, I could buy my son a new car!
I have to explain, daily, why I can’t go to certain
restaurants to eat, take part in the potluck at work or church, or just take
off on a road trip on the spur of the moment.
Traveling is almost a nightmare.
I need a hotel with a refrigerator AND a microwave in the room. I even have to question chewing gum, candy
AND all medications including over the counter medications. I cannot trust anything that goes into my
mouth….even toothpaste.
I become a little depressed at times and it seems as though
EVERY commercial is a food commercial showing things I CANNOT have. Now as I have learned more and more about the
Torah, I have become very convicted about eating Kosher. (I am not asking you to do so, but God has
been asking me to do so and I have taken on the daunting task of now doing away
with meat since kosher meat is almost non-existent in my neck of the
woods.) As I cut my list down further I
looked at God and said, “God, I am not sure I can do this….it’s too hard.” That is when God clearly replied to me, “I
didn’t say it was too hard for me to send My Son to atone for your sins and
neither did My Son say it was too hard for Him to give His life to atone for your sins.”
Wow! Put me in my
place, very quickly! Suddenly my
allergies and decision didn’t seem like such a hardship after all and then the song which had been stuck
in my head for weeks suddenly came full circle.
I realized why that
song had been stuck in my head. God had
been preparing me for this moment. The
song? ‘Already There’ by Casting
Crowns. The words of this song, especially
the bridge, say,
“One
day I’ll stand before you
And
look back on the life I’ve lived
I
can’t wait to enjoy the view
And
see how all the pieces fit”
“Aha” I thought! “That is it!
That is why I was given the food allergies! It was so I would be able to ease into the kosher
eating!” I had already been on a four
year struggle of learning new ways to eat and the battle had been half won
before I made the decision to go Kosher!!!
Now, why am I telling all of
this? Well, I do have a reason other
than my struggle with allergies and kosher cooking. It is the festival of Sukkot or better known
as the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths.
The point of this festival is for the people in Israel to move out of
their houses for one week and live in manmade “tents” or sukkahs. This “roughing” it for a week, helps the
people to remember the time after leaving Egypt when the Children of Israel
lived in tents. It is a reminder of
God’s provision and that all our “stuff” is just that, stuff. All the luxuries we enjoy and the things of
this world are only temporary and all of it is a gift from God.
What does that have to do with my
allergies? Well, if you recall, the
people while in the wilderness with Moses began to mourn the loss of all the
“stuff” they had left behind in Egypt.
As they did, they began to become ungrateful. An ungrateful heart is a heart that will
begin to become discontented, then angry and eventually will turn away from
God. The worst part of this equation is
that ungrateful heart is not the only heart affected. One person’s sin is never his own, he always
takes someone with him.
Sukkot is a time for reflecting
on the truly important things in life. The
provisions which can only be given by God and God alone, to allow for a
thankful heart. A true sukkah must be
comprised of a roof of leaves thin enough you are still able to see the stars
at night. There is no furniture,
appliances or closets full of clothes and jewelry. No garages full of cars either. Days are full of singing and dancing and
thankful hearts to God! Night time in
Jerusalem is filled with Sukkahs and candles and each day is filled with
singing which ends with a water drawing ceremony.
The 7th day of this
festival is also called “Great Salvation.”
It was on the last day of this great festival when Jesus, during the
water drawing ceremony, shouted out those famous words;
“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a
loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has
said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’” John 7:37
Does that verse seem a little
more eye-opening for you? Can you see
how much understanding we have missed over the years? Have we understood this verse properly? Well yes, but in its fullness? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! What a difference a little background
information can make.
Now back to my original train of
thought. How often are we thanking God
for His provision, yet eyeing that forbidden dessert thinking, “Well, maybe one
bite won’t have too many consequences.
After all, it is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask for
permission! Ha Ha!” A verse of scripture keeps coming back to my
mind over and over and it applies so well, not only to America, but to the
Church as well.
“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired, I refused my heart no
pleasure.” Ecclesiastes 2:10
Or perhaps this one:
“What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops? …..This is what I will do: I will tear down
my barns and build larger ones and there I will store all my grain and my
goods.” Luke 12:18
We are constantly looking around
and accumulating everything our eyes desire.
In fact, we accumulate so much stuff; we have to add on to our houses,
add storage units to our property or rent storage units to hold it all! The worst part, most people don’t even know
what all they have in those units or rooms.
Do you have any idea what is in your attic or closets?
And the Church isn’t much
better. “We build bigger buildings and
mega congregations filled with the latest technology and programming gimmicks
and yet are people any better off?
Why don’t we stop looking at all
the things that aren’t “kosher” and keep our eyes focused on the things which
are. Personally, I had to change my
attitude. Instead of being upset about
all the things I couldn’t have, I changed my attitude to say, “Look at all the
things I can have, but most importantly what a wonderful connection I will have
with God by keeping my eyes focused on Him!”
So, what do you focus on, the
prize or the distraction? The choice is
yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment