Healing from an eating disorder is a purification process.

Healing from an eating disorder is a purification process. First we must abstain from our “drug of choice”—misuse of food. We have a whole other set of challenges facing us. Unlike the alcoholic, who can abstain from alcohol, we must consume food in order to survive. This is a long-term purification process, and it continues as our souls are purged (this is a positive purging) of our deficiencies, destructive thought and behavior patterns, and negative attitudes.
As we allow God to do His work of changing us, He will purify our spirit compassionately through whatever fire or cleansing water He feels is needed. It has been said that pain is not in the change but in the resistance to the change. Try to relax and enjoy the purification process. Our life is made up of change. When we resist change, we resist life itself.

It’s time to put God’s plan ahead of our plan. Living with our obsessions occurs in the dark. We use the darkness to hide our secrets, our hurts, our faults, our fears, our failures, and our flaws. God wants us to come out of the dark into daylight. When we enter daylight, we bring all of our deficiencies out into the open and admit who we really are.

This requires not only courage but also the ability to be authentic and real. It means facing our fear of exposure, rejection, and being hurt all over again. It’s the only way to heal and stop the cycle (emotional healing), as well as grow spiritually.

Joshua, successor to Moses, had to complete the job of bringing the Israelites to the Promised Land. Because Joshua accepted God’s promise and depended on God for guidance, Joshua was successful.

In Joshua 7, God made a promise to Joshua and the Hebrews. He said that as long as they were strong and courageous and followed His orders, God would give them victory in battle. Then Joshua discovered that one man, Achan, had sinned against the Lord. He had hidden items in his tent against God’s command (Joshua 7:20-21).
Like Joshua, we know in our hearts God’s promise to us, but we can’t see it actually working in our life. Like Achan, we’ve been trying to hide and cover up things like a secret food habit or negative attitude.

Open your heart and in prayer ask God to help you peel back the layers and help you face head-on those things you’re hiding.

Read this excerpt from “I’m Beautiful? Why Can’t I See It?” by Kimberly Davidson.