“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”

 

I’ve really never been thin. When I was younger I had lost weight but didn’t know how to keep it off. So I ultimately gained it back, and then some.

Now that I understand the process of the farmer, I am using this process to release my excess weight in addition to being patient with the process. 

 

 

SO WHAT DOES THIS PROCESS LOOK LIKE? 

 

1)  First the farmer cultivates the land and tills the soil. The soil has to be cultivated so it can receive the seed. This involves the hard soil being basically chopped up so that the seed will be able to take root in it. Hard, uncultivated soil will not be able to grow anything, except weeds.

 

2) He plants good seeds. The farmer finds good quality seeds. Whatever seeds the farmer plants is what he gets. He literally reaps what he sows. 

3) He plants in the right season. If he misses the season to plant, he will not get the crop that he is expecting to get. There may be different times or seasons for each type of crop. 

4) After that is done and the seeds are planted, he waters the soil in expectation for the harvest.   

5) The farmer waits. He is very patient, knowing that time has to unfold because the seed has to germinate, take root, and then eventually sprout through the soil. Only after this, will it be able to produce the crop, be it corn, tomatoes or beans. There are unexpected circumstances that may hinder his crop, like adverse weather conditions, but his goal is still the same.

 

 

APPLYING THIS TO WEIGHT AND EATING

 

Now let’s talk about planting good seed as it relates to weight, body and eating, and in breaking habits.

What happens in the natural realm happens in the spiritual realm as well.

If the goal is to get a good harvest ~ releasing weight ~ and that is my goal to release weight permanently, everything that happens in the natural realm needs to happen in this process, too.

 

1) CULTIVATING THE SOIL

If we want to be able to receive the good seed God is going to be showing and giving us, our old “soil” ~ our old way of thinking ~ has to go. This is what “renewing the mind” is all about. Out with the old way of thinking (like the diet mentality; doing it on our own, etc.), and in with the new way of thinking that will ultimately produce a good harvest in us. This might feel like we are being “chopped up,” but it is really just God getting rid of old ways of thinking and doing things that have produced far more damage than this cultivating is doing now. Having extra weight on our body has also been part of “tilling the soil.” But God is going to use this sorrow for good.

 

2) PLANTING GOOD SEEDS

As we begin to give God our body on a daily basis by giving him our “not-eating moments,” we are planting good seed. I am using those seeds every day to get the great harvest of releasing weight and being healthy. , so the season or timing is now!

 

The time between dinner and breakfast is great “seed” before God. Most people have problems after dinner or getting up in the middle of the night to eat. Honoring God during these times may be a small (or big?) sacrifice, but it’s great seed before God. I started doing that and broke the cycle of binge eating.

My binge eating usually started at 10 pm every night. That was when I did the most damage.   

Another way of planting good seed is to give God your cravings. An unexpected circumstance might set these off. You have a taste for something and it usually hits when you are really not hungry. Again, this is great seed before God because you are giving out of your desire. “I want something good to eat. I want it now, and right now. I want more, or I want it all.” All of these situations are ways to sow good seed before God.   

 

3) PLANTING IN THE RIGHT SEASON

This is simple for our analogy, as it is always the right season, or time, to obey the Lord. And if we have just recently failed, His mercies are new every morning! “If today you hear His voice, harden not your heart” ~ which is what led to the hardening of our “soil.” Just repent and come to Him. It’s never too late!

 

4) WATERING THE SOIL

As we honor God by giving him our body, we have to water the seed. We do this in a few ways.

• One is by faith ~ we wait patiently in expectation for our harvest, knowing that if we give, He will give back to us. He rewards us with our faithfulness.
• Another way to water the seed is to claim out loud our truth. Repeating daily affirmations several times a day about who we are in Christ is a great way to water our seed. Some examples of my affirmations are:
• I desire less food.
• I eat and think like a thin eater.
• I am an overcomer. 
• Food has its proper place in my life.

Or you can write your own. 

 

Tonight I wanted dessert after my dinner but I was full. So I honored God by not eating the small dessert I wanted. I became that living sacrifice. I made a decision to not eat again until the morning. This is great seed before God and he will increase my harvest in the form of a smaller body! 

Another way to water the soil is to take one of your favorite foods ~ be it a candy bar, piece of cake or pie, or fried chicken ~ in your hand (or just name it if it’s somewhere else and you don’t want to go near it) and tell God:

“God, I love you more than ________ ( name your food out loud), and I honor you by not eating this today!”  

If you are temped by a particular food or if someone is cooking and it smells so good, give that smell and food to God.

“God I honor you by not eating that food that smells so good!”

(Suggestion: If you cannot handle the smell, breathe through your mouth!) 

Another suggestion for watering the good seed you have planted is if you have a trigger food or problem food that you just cannot stop eating, give that food a rest for a while by not eating it. I did that with fried chicken and I’m still doing it. I also gave up potato chips for about a year and a half. I just started eating them again, and it was a small bag. But it took me 3 days to eat that small bag that I would have previously devoured in 5 minutes! 

I have wanted a chocolate cake donut now for about 5 months and I keep telling myself you can have it, just not today, and it probably will not taste as good as you think it will. That keeps me from eating it. 

All these are watering the good seed God is growing in me.

As we keep honoring God with our body, we break the cycle of disordered eating by not eating, and God takes the seed and increases and multiplies it to produce the harvest that we want.

 

5) WAITING

I believe the hardest part of the process is being patient with the process. But we are told in Galatians 6:9:

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap a harvest of blessings, if we do not get discouraged and give up.”

And in Hebrews 12:11 it says:

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, [after a season of waiting] however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

As hard as this process is, I’m looking forward to seeing and enjoying the outcome ~ that “harvest of blessing”! 

 

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Wanda Walker

(See her bio below.)