Winter Cheer

How’s that diet and exercise program coming during these gloomy, damp days? It’s tough, isn’t it? I take refuge from winter’s icy fingers under a blanket and comfort myself with food until the sun shines bright again. The less I move, the less I want to move. And those comfort foods never satisfy for long, do they? Most of the time, we’re not physically hungry; we’re trying to feel better, because the bleakness has pulled us down emotionally.

But Jesus understood real hunger. While He was in the wilderness fasting and being tempted by the devil, He quoted these verses from Deuteronomy: “But Jesus told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4, NLT) Jesus had fasted forty days and nights, so we know He was not depending on food to fortify Himself.

Let’s flip to Deuteronomy to see what Jesus meant. In context, Moses was telling the people God let them get hungry, so He could feed them. God gave them manna, something of which they had never heard. He gave them something good they never would have conceived on their own.

We don’t need these unhealthy foods to comfort ourselves. He is enough! He thinks of ways to meet our needs – things we haven’t considered! We just have to ask.

“Lord, satisfy me with Yourself! Fill me up! You are the Light of the World! Shine brightly in my heart – brighter than the sun ever could! May I pine only for You! Chase away the winter darkness and fill me with joy by the Words of Your Mouth! Amen.”

joyce hague