Hunger or habit?

Why do we eat what we do? What pushes us, prods us, and pulls us towards food?
As I stood in my hotel room this week, traveling around the country like a vagabond for the organization I consult for, I recognized that hunger often has very little to do with why we eat.

I arrived at my hotel tired and stressed as I thought about the days that were ahead. My husband was waiting to hear about a big job opportunity, one that would put him back in the major leagues as a coach, after a heartbreaking exit from the NY Yankees coaching staff- and all I wanted to do was eat crackers! I was nervous, tired, and a bit on edge- and my instinct was to grab the bag of cheddar rice cakes that I brought along in my suitcase.
Instead, I dropped to my knees beside the hotel bed and bowed my head. I asked God to fill the hole in my heart and nerves, instead of me numbly eating crackers.
A sense of purpose and peace came over me as I stood up. After living free from food compulsion for over 20 years, I still know my weak times. Those times I'd like to grab food out of the desire to feel numb, or to erase nerves and apprehension. We all eat from emotion at times...a cup of great cocoa when it's cold and we want to feel cozy, the chocolate when PMS is raging in our bodies, chicken soup when we feel sick and want to be comforted. There's nothing wrong with that at all! The trouble starts when we turn an emotion into an eating habit.
Soon the habit is how we function- rather than feeling our lives as God has intended We stuff our days and nights with drive-thru raids, cupboard hoards, and compulsive eating, rather than feeling the pain or mundane of life.
Even Jesus Himself felt bored, lonely, angry, hurt, apprehensive, joyful, sorrowful, disappointed, and let down by those he loved and trusted. But we don't see Him stuffing away His pain with figs, bread, fish or wine. He felt it. He lived it. He believed in a greater purpose than momentary discomfort.
We are invited to feel our lives rather than stuff them. I think I'll R.S.V.P to that invitation today.