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20th November 2024
WednesdayReflection
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'Lauren Bargas'
'holds a master of arts in biblical counselling'
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Christian Living
Hope for People with Food Allergies
"Man shall not live by bread alone" (Matt. 4:4).
But what happens if you can't eat bread at all?
Or fruit? Or dairy? Or eggs?
For a growing number of people, this is their world.
This is my world.
If you don't suffer from food allergies, you likely know or love someone who does - a brother, a sister, a wife, a child, a church member.
As Christians, we have an opportunity to bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6:2) as we live and eat alongside people with food allergies.
During my sophomore year of college, I began to experience intense stomach pain that rapidly worsened.
The next five years were marked by symptoms ranging from irritating to debilitating.
After countless doctor visits, medical tests, physical lethargy, and soul fatigue, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and placed on an immune system suppressant.
Several flare-ups, lingering illness, more strong medications, and two additional diagnoses later, I was left holding a stack of pamphlets about treatment and diet.
I had no idea where to begin.
The recommended diets were conflicting and overwhelming.
I experienced side effects from the medication, damage to my body from malabsorption, recurring stomach-aches, and frequent small ailments from a dysfunctional body.
During different seasons of this journey, I felt discouraged, overwhelmed, isolated, and even depressed.
Eventually, my doctor mentioned that I might try eating gluten-free.
Though saddened at the idea of such a dramatic diet change, my new way of eating eventually helped me understand the effect that food and food restrictions have on both body and spirit.
Food allergies and related health problems hurt physically and spiritually, but because my food-allergy trial wasn't outwardly obvious, inwardly I felt shame.
I wasn't bound to a wheelchair. I didn't struggle to see or talk.
So I downplayed the pain, and chose to suffer silently.
At the time, I felt disabled for reasons that didn't show and that I didn't understand.
I've come to understand that struggling with food allergies can be a life-dominating trial, affecting the whole person.
For people with AIP (Allergies, Intolerances, and Related Problems), the simple act of eating must be relearned.
Eating out, eating in others' homes, holiday meals, and potlucks are often overwhelming - and sometimes life-threatening.
Reading labels, reconfiguring grocery shopping, and researching diets consume massive amounts of time.
Food and medical tests consume massive amounts of money.
Friends become reluctant to invite allergy sufferers for a meal.
Even taking communion at church with conventional bread and juice may be impossible.
The human soul is affected when the physical body is compromised.
Scripture is clear that a human being is a whole person, body and soul, and the two parts are intertwined.
The human soul is affected when the physical body is compromised.
Throughout Scripture, food is complex.
Food was the tool that brought about the fall when Adam and Eve ate.
For the AIP sufferer, food is a tool as well.
In loving wisdom, God sets unique constraints for each of his children.
And while food restrictions often entail suffering, they're good soil for spiritual fruit.
Sin began with food, and its abolition will culminate in the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Food allergy sufferer, your pain is preparing for you a unique weight of glory.
So when Jehovah Jireh provides food you can eat, rejoice.
When you eat without pain or fear, rejoice.
But in the hard moments of isolation and self-denial, fight to see this:
Sin intended to destroy God's good gift of food, but he redeemed that distorted gift by his mighty grace.
As you steward the restrictions God has given you, may you hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant," and may you look forward to the day when he will say, "Let us feast."
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This is an edited version.
'Lauren Bargas'
is an ACBC certified counselor and holds a master of arts in biblical counseling.
She wrote her thesis, "A Biblical Response to the Pain of Food Allergies, Intolerances, and Related Health Problems," to encourage those suffering from food allergies.
She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband, Pete, and infant son, Thaddaeus.
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