Grateful for Weakness???

This morning, I was reminded of a verse that was brought to me a few weeks back (see post "God's Strength"):

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9 - KJV)

As I watched myself this past week make some poor choices about what I was eating, I was reminded of some basic spiritual principles I've learned to apply in other areas of my life. I was thinking particularly of the financial/material realm where there are two principles that became quite important as I sought God's healing of my belief in lack instead of in His abundance. The first was the concept of being grateful in all things and the second was the principle of tithing to where I was being spiritually fed. I've come to believe that I'm being told to apply these lessons to my diet/health issues, and I've found it to be quite challenging.

Be Grateful in All Things: (Ephesians 5:20 - "Giving thanks always for all things unto God"; I Thessalonians 5:18 - "In every thing give thanks").  This advice sounds good at first glance, but it can be really difficult to apply in daily life.  You mean I'm to give thanks that I chose to eat that 2nd piece of pie or all those potato chips?  My habit has been to beat myself up about stuff like that.  How can I give thanks for something I wish I didn't do???? 2 Corinthians 12:9 has the answer - God's strength is made perfect in my weakness.  My clear weakness when it comes to certain food choices requires me to turn to God because I know that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 NKJV  Clearly I can gain the victory in no other way.  So, am I willing to "glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me"?  Am I willing to truly be grateful in all things, trusting Him to heal me?  And am I willing to turn my focus from myself and my failings to God and His strength?  I've seen the power of applying this principle in my financial life -- learning to focus my attention on the abundance coming my way instead of on the things I didn't have.  Now is the time to apply this principle to another part of my life - my diet and health.

Tithing: As I thought about applying spiritual principles I learned in the financial realm to the realm of diet and health, the other major principle I'd learned came to mind - that of tithing.  But how to apply it? My first thought was that giving a tenth of my food to the poor might be a way to do this - or perhaps a more conscious gifting of meals where I invite others into my home. But then I remembered what I learned in the financial realm -- the idea of tithing to where I've been spiritually fed to support those who serve as channels for God to feed me spiritually (these were the Levites in Biblical times).  Learning to do this has been such a HUGE blessing to me in the financial realm!  It required me to NOTICE where I was being spiritually fed and find a way to tithe there. God has SO MANY channels through which to feed me! Sometimes my spiritual food came in the traditional way, from a pastor at church, but often it came from other places - people I encountered in daily life that inspired me to grow spiritually, lessons from nature, a song that suddenly spoke to me.  I became quite creative in finding ways to tithe to some of these less obvious places where I had been spiritually fed.

So how does this tithing principle apply with regard to food choices?  How can I apply the concept of tithing specifically to food?  This is going to require prayerful consideration.  I really don't yet know the answer, but I'm looking forward to learning it! 

I am reminded of a passage found in Deuteronomy 14:22-29 that specifically speaks of the tithe of food (though it can also probably be considered regarding all tithe since at the time incomes would pretty much have come from farming):

"Be sure to tithe annually from everything you plant that yields a harvest in the field. Then in the presence of the Lord your God, in the place where he’ll choose to establish his name, you may consume the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your livestock and flock, so that you’ll learn to revere the Lord your God all your life. Now the way may be distant from you, so that you are unable to transport your tithe because you have been blessed by the Lord your God and the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish his name may be distant from you.  In that case, convert it into cash, secure the money, and then bring it to the place where the Lord will choose. You may spend the money to your heart’s content to buy livestock, flocks, wine, strong drink, and whatever you desire. You and your household may eat there and rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God.  But you must not forget the descendant of Levi in your town, because there is no tribal allotment for him as there is for you. Every third year, bring all the tithes of your produce of that year and store them in your cities so the descendants of Levi—who have no tribal allotment as you do—foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your cities may come, eat, and be satisfied. That way, the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.”  ISV

Here it seems that two out of every three years, the annual tithe was to be set aside and used to provide for a spiritual retreat and feasting for the family. Can you imagine consuming a 10th of the annual crops all at once? Even if your retreat lasted for a couple of weeks and you DID share it with the Levites and anyone else around you, that would be a LOT of food!

Every third year it was to be stored to feed the local priests, foreigners, orphans and widows. This idea is repeated in Deuteronomy 26:12-13:

"Every third year you must offer a special tithe of your crops. In this year of the special tithe you must give your tithes to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that they will have enough to eat in your towns." Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Can you imagine what life would be like if everyone did this? Hunger would be wiped out!  This has all given me much food for thought. One of the things I've come to understand is how much the disease of overeating is based in selfishness and self-seeking and it seems clear that practicing tithing can help us learn to be less selfish. Perhaps that's the real point here. Can I approach food and eating from a totally unselfish perspective?  Am I willing to give of my food to others?   Even those favorite foods that I might be tempted to keep for myself? How often do I want what I want instead of seeking to support what others want when it comes to food?  I know that when I allow myself to be selfish in one area of my life, it starts to creep into other areas as well.  In the same way, when I practice unselfishness in one area, it begins to change other areas as well.  It seems to me that I am being given an opportunity here to practice unselfishness.

Father, thank you for your guidance!  I know you will continue to guide me as I continue to think about these things and seek your will.  Father, it's clear I need your power in my life.  I can't make healthy food choices on my own, but my body is YOUR temple and I want to keep it clean and healthy for you.  I look for Your strength to be made perfect in my weakness - for your power to flow through me and your will to hold sway in my life.  May things of the material world - including food - hold no more sway over me. May these bonds be broken that I may be free to live in a healthy way as you would have me do. You know my weaknesses better than I do.  And I know Your strength!  Thank you for working your will in my life this day and for the miracles I've seen you work to help me make more healthy choices.  Thank you, Father!