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"Are you going to eat that?" Rob greedily eyed the rest of my fried shrimp. Red Lobster is his absolute favorite restaurant. There is no way my husband would allow my meal to go to waste.
"Go ahead," I said, sliding my plate across the table. "I have a poor appetite lately. I don't know what's wrong with me."
"All the more for me," he replied with a smile.
I found out days later the reason for my poor appetite. I was pregnant! For the next three months, food was my enemy. Even the scent of food created a wave of nausea! Then, one day I woke up and smelled the food! And it smelled great! I was suddenly starving for everything I could get my hands on. Grocery bills practically doubled and by the end of the ninth month my weight increased by forty pound! Yikes!
I've been pregnant twice and each time I went through brief (Praise God!) periods of having a poor, or even no, appetite. But there are also other times in my life when food is the last thing on my mind. Many times, the worries of life keep me from being hungry. Or I get so distracted by things going on in the daily grind of life that I don't even realize I'm not eating. I simply forget to eat!
But it doesn't take long before my body reminds me of its need for food. I get tired. And weak. My head throbs. My stomach moans. Not eating can make me light-headed and dizzy (more light-headed and dizzy than usual, as my friends would say). My point is that when I don't give my body fuel, it doesn't operate properly and sometimes even runs out of gas (well, my husband could argue that point, but that's another story. Or not).
Just as my body gives me a sign that I need food, my spirit tips me off when it needs to be fed too. I'll admit there have been times when my appetite for God has been so poor that I went days without opening my Bible. But it isn't long before I start getting symptoms that tell me I'm lacking spiritual food. Those symptoms might include finding myself giving in to temptation. Or feeling like God is light years away. Anger may win over a soft answer. My joy might be missing. Peace? Forget about it! Nothing seems to go right! As soon as any of these symptoms appear, I need to step back and ask myself when I've eaten last.
When I begin to eat again, to feast on the Word, my joy and peace and contentment find their way back - much to my delight. Usually, after I repent for my laziness and lack of discipline, I find myself ravenous! I devour the Word, huge chunks at a time, like I did at the all-you-can-eat-buffet when I was pregnant. In other words, I wake up and smell the food! And it smells great!
A poor appetite may be a common occurrence during the first trimester of pregnancy. It also is something most everyone experiences from time to time in his or her spiritual walk. The important thing is to recognize the symptoms of hunger and start eating. Once you do, I guarantee it won't be long before something wonderful and life-changing is born!
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matt. 5:6)
Lynda Schab
Copyright 2004
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