Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Bounties of Craving Christ

It was happening again—I was being pulled from my warm bed by a terrible pain in my stomach. Eyes heavy with sleep, I soundlessly slipped into the bathroom, closing the door before I flipped on the light so as to not disturb my sleeping husband. What was it this time? I wondered as I pulled on a sweater to provide some comfort, preparing myself to endure what would come next. I thought I had followed my rules. I was being careful with my food—but evidently, not careful enough. Understanding what this was brought a sliver of relief, but knowing I had a number of painful, sleepless hours ahead of me felt like a hammer blow on my tender nerves.

“This is temporary,” I whispered to myself. “You will, again, get through this. This will pass.”

Going Against the Grain

A diagnosis in my twenties has made food complicated for me in my thirties. It’s a special kind of torture for us food-sensitive types as we grill the waiter with questions at restaurants or read nutrition labels at the grocery store as if browsing the library. There’s a fear that we fight constantly. We wonder, Am I safe? with every snack, meal, or sample bite at Costco. We reluctantly deny ourselves cravings—foods that we used to eat, that we know taste really good—in favor of not upsetting our treasonous bodies.

Yet the principle of denying ourselves is a familiar song in a Christian’s repertoire, isn't it? In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells his disciples: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24, emphasis mine). Jesus was telling his friends that to follow him, they needed to put away their personal comforts and wants. They would need to resist their fleshly desires—the glint of gold, the praise of fame, the gratification of their human urges—in favor of lifting up God’s cause. They needed to love God more than themselves.

And that is not an impulse that comes to us naturally.

Feeding the Flesh

Our food cravings, too, can be considered a desire of our flesh. Food is good and very necessary. And our cravings are part of our body’s design to keep us hydrated, strong, and functioning for daily tasks. But we don’t always crave what is profitable for us, do we? If we feed ourselves sugary treats, we will crave sugar. If we indulge in salty snacks, we will seek out salty foods. We cannot always trust our cravings to lead us to nourishment. If I followed my cravings, it would lead me to continued suffering. I have to say no to my desires—to foods that look good, taste good, and smell oh-so-good but in reality are not good for me at all. 

The messages from our culture teach that gratifying our desires is what makes us a whole being. To deny ourselves something we want is to not practice self-love. To love ourselves is to follow our urges; loving others is to applaud them as they do the same. Satisfying our longings—whether it be for a certain food, physique, spouse, baby, or promotion—will result in complete satisfaction and our maximum potential. Every advertisement on the planet is communicating that we cannot be our best selves until we have fulfilled our greatest desire (which is to have the product they are selling, by the way). 

This worldview is in direct opposition to a sanctified life. To live a life focused on feeding our flesh is like running on a hamster wheel—an exhaustive effort with nothing gained. We have already been given everything we need in Christ. We need to change our spiritual cravings if we want to experience true health and satisfaction.

Shifting our Sights

“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:16). Battling my food cravings has given me a fresh perspective on the ongoing fight against my sin nature. Satan would have me defeated and hopeless, looking at that in which I cannot indulge. But the Spirit prompts me to focus on the plethora of God-given foods that I can enjoy. 

Instead of lamenting over what I must deny, I can choose to be grateful for what I have been given. My “yes” foods take more time to prepare and come at an economically higher cost, giving me less time and fewer resources for worldly comforts. Even so, this in itself is a precious reorientation from a gracious God who gives good gifts to his children.[1]

We serve a good God—and he is good all the time. He can literally be nothing else! He created our world and saw that it was good. Sin’s influence, however, means that not everything is good for us anymore. That's the reality of living in a fallen world. But as Christians living in the hope of the gospel, what we see here is not all there is. We don’t need to look to the temporal tastes of the world for fulfillment. Jesus came as the Bread of Life—the living bread from heaven.[2] Only in him can our hunger be fully satisfied. Our greatest pleasures come from God alone—his presence, his purposes, his promises, and his bountiful provisions.  

Pride in Our Heavenly Place

Because of my broken body, pain will continue to follow me, regardless of my efforts to control my food. And sometimes I will buckle to temptation and take part in what I should have denied. Yet, enduring it all has helped refine my faith as I learn to deny the greater desires of my flesh, set my eyes on Christ, and consider my heavenly future more valuable than the temporary trappings of life: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

The Spirit is alive and working. He teaches us how to trade our earthly desires, sights, and pursuits for the kingdom's cause. We can pursue the heavenly places—the pride of our eternal home—and the Father who waits for us there. Let us no longer cling to the tangible for worth, purpose, or contentment but rely on Christ’s eternal promises.

In Christ there is satisfaction. Guaranteed. 

[1] Matthew 7:11

[2] John 6:48-51