Step 3: Pray

When I decided I was going to "eat clean" April 1 2014, I was terrified.  Could I really do this?  This time around I had no false pretenses that I was strong enough and determined enough to meet my goal, I felt weak and small against the Goliath of food culture I was facing. The only reason I was able to "hold the vision, trust the process" was because I felt in my mind this was God's answer to me after a show of faith that I knew He could heal me; it was divinely mandated.  Had it been a suggestion from a friend or family member or an idea out of a book, (and I'd had plenty of those in previous years), I would not have had the determination to see it through.

This journey may well be one of the most difficult you ever take, it is for me, and you will need the help of The Almighty to get through it.  The difficulty that a recovering drug addict faces who never can touch his/her drug of choice again is the closest example of the torment you will go through indefinitely. In fact, we are no different than a drug addict considering the onslaught of addictive gluten, sugar, pro-inflammatory foods, and environmental toxins you will now be trying to eliminate from your body. You will first physically crave those foods, next emotionally miss your food, and third psychologically yearn for your food you always enjoyed. You may miss it for the rest of your life.

You will need a reason to do this more than skin deep, the health of your gut and brain won't be enough of a motivation, it must be an eternal determination to yourself and to God that you are going to do whatever you can in your power to cleanse your body and preserve your life. I had to start looking at eating sugar as a sin because "where much is given much is expected," now that I knew from God there were dangers for me to ingest sugar, it was literally sinful for me to continue living that way.  I still pray for strength, pray for help, pray for direction, pray for comfort, pray for patience.  And pray for courage. "Courage is not merely a virtue, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." It is hard to go to events and watch people eating that third piece of cake, have the chicken salad while you go without because of the mayo and croissant, enjoy gravy, rolls, dessert and sugary drinks. I'm still wondering when it will get easier, maybe it never will, it's always emotionally draining; however, the Lord fills me with His Spirit, and I know I am feasting on a figurative "Bread of Life" which is for me more important and significant than temporal satisfaction.

Scriptures also help me to gain insight about staying strong despite outward and inward opposition to this endeavor. Much of what I have learned in research contradicts what I thought was right, like "its not what enters the man that defileth him, but what comes out of a man" or "take no thought for the body, but take thought for the soul" or "wheat is ordained for the use of man."  For these conundrums I had to turn to the Lord in prayer, and every time he answered my prayer and helped me understand what I personally needed to know and keep doing.  Certain principles are intended for all, certain are intended for some and not others, and certain are intended for me alone, for I am like all others in some ways, like some others in some ways, and like no others in some ways. And some principles just plain change based on what is going on historically!  (Circumcision, cleansing rituals, law of consecration, etc.) If you pray in faith God will direct you for good, advocate your cause, and lead you by the hand, whether you realize it or not.