I remember when I ran my first marathon I lost a lot of weight. I had actually lost about 20 pounds and got down to what I weighed all through high school b/c of the amount of running I was doing. I wasn't extremely thin, but let's say that most of my clothes kind of hung from me.
Now, when I started running it wasn't my intention to lose that kind of weight. Besides, at that point, I was eating everything in sight and still dropping pounds. So I wasn't all that concerned.
Since then, I've run two more marathons but my weight has increased w/ each race and now I am back to where I was before I was training for my first race. I have always considered it as a "plateau" and I don't think much about it. But having done a little research, I have discovered that some runners actually gain weight while training b/c of the hormone "leptin."
Leptin is a hormone in our bodies that is designed to tell us when we have had enough to eat. In other words, it is hormone that surpresses our hunger. The strange thing that science has found is that people who are obese have extremely high levels of leptin but are able to override the signals telling them to stop eating. And this is why people tend to eat more, when they shouldn't. Now the ironic thing is while those who exercise for long periods of time (i.e. distance runners) can actually decrease their leptin levels. So the conclusion, is if your leptin levels decrease, then there aren't enough to tell your body when to stop eating.
So, for a person like me, the theory is when I run I am eating whatever I want, but perhaps I am eating too much b/c my leptin levels are too low and I am not getting the signals to stop eating and this is why I've gained weight while running. I know, sounds strange.
When it comes to our walk w/ God, we are told that we are blessed when we "hunger and thirst for righteousness" b/c we "will be filled" (Matt 5:6). So, while our bodies tell us when we are full and have had enough to eat, there is nothing in us that tells we have had enough of God.
Have you ever had one of those feelings when you felt "spiritually full?" Maybe it was at some youth rally, conference, Sunday worship, etc and when the moment, event or weekend was over, you just felt completely full, spiritually. I have recently wondered about that feeling b/c it doesn't make sense. You see, when we are full from food, there is no way we could eat another bite (unless it's brownies and ice cream :). But is it really the same when we are spiritually full? I mean, when we say we are spiritually full, are we really saying that we couldn't take anymore God?
Leptin is that hormone God put in our bodies to surpress our hunger so we would stop eating. But God didn't put anything in us that tell us to stop being hungry and thirsting for him. In fact, it's just the opposite w/ God in that the more we hunger and the more we thirst, the more we will want God. Furthermore, while there isn't anything in us to surpress our hunger for God, God did give us something that would make us starve for him; His Spirit.
So if that is the case, if God put his Spirit in us so we would want him more, then why do we have a surpressed hunger and thirst for him? Perhaps it's b/c when we think we are full, we really aren't b/c the fact is, we will never be full enough of God. That means, when we are hungry and thirsty for God we will always seek him and we will NEVER get enough of him. And that is what God wants.
God isn't like food b/c if he was, we would treat him that way. Meaning, sometimes we would over eat and other times not eat enough. Somtimes we would starve ourselves of God and not eat anything and sometimes we would binge and purge. But that's not the kind of relationship God wants w/ us.
God wants us to hunger and thirst for him so he can fill us w/ blessings. So while we will never be full of God, God will fill us w/ what he wants.....his Spirit and his blessings.... helping us to stay in a realtionship w/ Him.
So what's surpressing your hunger and thirst for God? Do you really think you are full ? Perhaps the best question is, are you being filled?
BW
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