Emotional Triggers

 We all turn to something when we are triggered by our emotions. For many of us, that is food but as Lysa points out, it can be a wide variety of things that we turn to. I've noticed  it in myself this week more often than I'd like to admit. You know how much energy kids have and being cooped up in the house for the past three months is starting to build up a LOT of excess energy in them. With three of them playing off of each other I'm starting to go crazy too. What happens when I get stressed out? I instantly want to walk into my kitchen and find some kind of sugary goodness to make me feel better!

I know it's not a good thing. I'm supposed to be turning to God instead of food like we've learned over the past several weeks of this Bible study. There were many times that I walked out of the kitchen without anything to eat because I'm starting to recognize what I'm doing. At the same time though, I'm not diffusing the stress with prayer. 

That's the problem. While I walk away temporarily, I'm not turning to God and sharing my emotional difficulty with Him and instead negative emotions are building up more and more. My bad attitude is rubbing off on all three of my children and even my husband. I had to admit it last night. We were talking about the kids having a bad attitude. God was letting me know, "They're playing off of your stress."  I hated to admit it but it's very true. 

Eating when stressed isn't the only emotional trigger though. When we find out good news we want to celebrate, right? Nothing wrong with that, right? Well what does that "celebration" usually consist of? You guessed it, food and nit just any food, it's usually sugary, calorie filled junk. 

Or when we are bored, we'll walk into the kitchen and grab something to snack on. Which again, has very little nutritional value.Even worse, we're not even hungry for food! . All of these opportunities are a chance to turn to God to share our stress, boredom, happiness, whatever it may be. 

What would happen if instead of going to my kitchen for junk when my kids stress me out, I opened my Bible and started reading? Or if we shared our excitement of good news with other friends and praised God for what He's done in our lives? What if when we're bored we practice a Bible memory verse (they're not just for kids you know). I think we'd find a wonderful relationship with Christ instead of feeling disappointed with ourselves once again! 

Here's a good question to ask when we walk into the kitchen whether out of boredom,  stress or another emotion that makes us want to eat. 

"Am I truly hungry for food or do I need to turn to God to fill me?" 

I love the analogy in chapter 13 of our starved souls sucking up anything put before it like a vacuum cleaner! That's exactly what it is. What are you setting before you to be filled with? Food or God? As I'm writing this morning I hear this song come on the radio. Perfect tming Lord! 

Here's a nice little freebie for you. Print it out and hang it in your kitchen maybe in a couple places. On the fridge, the cupboard or even by the light switch. Let it serve as a reminder to turn to God instead of playing off of emotions.

click here to download and print

How are you doing on this journey? You can read my previous blog hop posts by clicking the links below.
Pity Party or Seeking God
Delight In Obedience
Desperation Breeds Degradation
Empowered

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