Knee jerk reactions or things we just always do or say out of habit or I just always do.

Our defenses that keep us “safe”.

I have spent my whole life as a picky eater. I just would not, could not eat certain things, sometimes it was just I didn’t like the taste and, on most occasions, it was the texture of the food in my mouth would make me throw up. Perfect example is when restaurants would put condiments and veggies on my sandwiches, yuck! When i was younger I would not eat it. My family will tell you from the time I was just starting to eat I would examine my food closely, I would look it over, touch it, smell it and if it passed all the tests, only then would I put it in my mouth. As I got a little older, I would try to eat foods, I tried salad so many times, but the texture made me throw up nearly every time. Sometimes not paying attention I would eagerly bite into a sandwich while driving down the road, only to have the rude awaking that my request for the sandwich to be plain had went unfulfilled and I would spit it out and lose my appetite.

I was recently at a drive thru window ordering a cheeseburger, out of habit I blurted out “cheeseburger plain”, I went through the ordering section, paid and then as i moved forward I thought why did i order that plain? Your not the same, you can eat some of that stuff, and actually enjoy it. Shocker! My family gives me grief about the changes, since I’ve always been sooo picky. One person even said you’ve changed so much that if you met yourself a year ago you’d have to introduce yourself. I’ve been on a journey to healthier living and so many things have changed. There are so many foods that i can eat now. Thank you God. But as I thought about this “normal” way of ordering out of habit. I thought about how many things I do throughout my daily life out of habit or out of normalcy, ways of doing things that keep me “safe” and keep me from getting sick.

For years I avoided trying new things to avoid the possible risk. The truth is this applies to more areas than just foods. There are many things I have done and continue to do as knee jerk reactions to keep myself safe and secure and to avoid risk.

God is making me new. I must surrender these old ways. These old reactions will keep me tied up and bound and unable to move forward in wholeness and abundant life that Christ dies to give. I must surrender my thoughts and be transformed into who He created me to be.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Where are you holding back? What things are you knee jerking over that you need to allow God to transform and renew? I pray that you will surrender those places and allow God to do the work He wants to so. His ways are truly better than anything we could ever think up.

AP