A couple of weeks ago we purchased two chickens to provide us with our very own free range, organic eggs. Only one bird is laying as yet, but it is very satisfying to go out and collect our daily offering!  It is also great fun watching their antics as each of them – Tessa and Tiffany – develop their own personalities.

Tessa is the more dominant of the two – sassy, confident and, yes, greedy!  When we have held out titbits or thrown bits of fruit into their run, it has been Tessa who has been most alert and reached it first. She gobbles it up quickly and then steals what has been thrown to Tiffany before coming back for more. Tiffany used to eat more slowly, but she has realised now that she cannot afford to let anything drop from her beak, even for a split second, or it will be gone.  She is learning to eat with one eye on the opposition and now chases off with her portion in a bid to outwit Tessa.  It is comical to watch.

Watching Tessa and Tiffany has reminded me of stories which I often hear of how sibling rivalry over food has been instrumental in forming a ‘grab it while you can’ attitude towards food.  People from large families especially tell me that if they weren’t assertive in grabbing food quickly from the table it would be gone and they would miss out! Now, as independent adults, that ingrained habit still persists with the feeling that if food is offered and they decline they will have forfeited an opportunity; someone will have got the better of them.

If you have ever lived through a time of scarcity regarding food, this can produce a real fear of going short even if, rationally, you know this would never happen.  I am thinking here about a lady whose husband was a miner during the long, bitter strikes of the 70s. Since they didn’t work, they weren’t paid for weeks.  Although she made sure that the children were fed, she and husband were actually starving.  She recalls vividly a time when she saw her mother scraping surplus food into the bin – food which she was desperate for herself. When the strikes were over she remembers vowing to herself that she would never let herself go hungry again, but the fear of going without was so deeply etched within her that she found herself always feeling hungry; always in need of food close at hand; always eating now in case there wasn’t any tomorrow. Dieting never worked for her as the sense of deprivation it evoked was more than she could bear. 

The trigger incident happened long ago and so it took a while before she even recognised it as the root of her disordered eating, but when the Holy Spirit showed her the spirit of fear she was operating in and where it came in, she was able to receive prayer ministry and was immediately released from its power.  She no longer needed to have food always beside her in the car or stop for snacks on her way home from work. Now a couple of stone lighter she has maintained her weight loss, and praises God for the day she God gave her understanding and set her completely free.

Perhaps there is an element of this survival instinct influencing your eating behaviour.  Were you one of a large family, or a younger child dominated and out-witted by an older sibling always ready to steal your portion? Or perhaps you are a reader old enough to have grown up through a time of scarcity such as the last great war.  Others of you are maybe suffering through the Recession - loss of jobs and ever- rising food costs cause you to worry about whether there will be enough food tomorrow so, subconsciously, you are eating all you can lay your hands on today. 

Listen, Jesus said, ‘Take no thought for tomorrow, what you should eat or what you should drink or what you should wear. Your heavenly Father knows that you need these things.  If God feeds the sparrows and clothes the flowers in the field, surely he is going to look after your needs as well.” (From Matthew 6 – paraphrased)  God hasn’t given you a spirit of fear and he wants to set you free from this bondage today. If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you through this word, find a place where you can pray and ask God to show you any root of fear which influences the way you eat. Then simply take authority over that negative influence in Jesus’ Name and claim your freedom by faith. If you feel unable to do this yourself, then seek out a mature Christian friend who can pray with you and help you.  Jesus said, ‘You will know the truth and the truth will set your free.’ (John 8:32) 

The Lord is our Good Shepherd; therefore we shall not go short of anything we need. In our Father’s house there is ‘bread enough and to spare’.   Trust him.