To read Part Two, click here.

The first spiritual eating disorder, and perhaps the most prevalent, is what is known as: failure to thrive.

I had never heard about this disorder, until a number of years ago a friend of mine delivered her first baby who was diagnosed with: failure to thrive. Simply put, the baby wouldn't eat! It wouldn't nurse, you couldn't give it a bottle; it just had no appetite and would not eat. At first, the doctors couldn't figure out why this baby wouldn't eat. Why wasn't this baby eating? Normally, all babies come out with an instinct to eat yet this baby would not eat. Eventually, they determined and diagnosed the baby with "failure to thrive." The food was available. The mother was ready to nurse. The doctors and nursing staff were on call to assist on a moment's notice, as soon as the baby demonstrated hunger or thirst it would be fed! Unfortunately, this baby was not hungry. The baby wouldn't eat. The baby did not grow properly.

Many medical articles describe "Failure to Thrive" in general terms. It is common knowledge that the first few years of life are a time when most children gain weight and grow much more rapidly than they will later on. Sometimes, however, babies and children do not meet expected standards of growth and they are diagnosed with a condition known as: "Failure to Thrive." Failure to thrive is a condition describing children whose current weight or rate of weight gain is significantly below that of other children of similar age and sex. The symptom common to all those with "failure to thrive" is the failure to gain weight and grow as expected. If the condition progresses, the child may become apathetic and irritable, and may not reach expected goals like sitting up, walking, and talking at the usual age. Most diagnoses of failure to thrive are made in infants and toddlers in the first few years of life, a crucial period of physical and mental development.

The causes of failure to thrive are manifold. Sometimes it is caused by physiological, or medical problems, psychosocial factors, economic factors, or environmental factors. Sometimes the cause of "failure to thrive" is simply poor eating habits, such as eating in front of the television and not having formal meal times.

We have observed that very often Christians suffer from the very same thing: spiritual failure to thrive. During the first few years of their spiritual rebirth is the time when most believers "gain weight and grow much more rapidly." Sometimes Christians do not seem to meet the "expected standards of growth" and this leads to a diagnosis of "spiritual failure to thrive." This condition describes believers whose growth and maturity seems to fall significantly below that of other believers of the same spiritual age. If the condition progresses, believers become apathetic and irritable, and they do not reach expected goals like being independently, dependant upon the Lord, Bible reading and prayer skills, Christian maturation and spiritual reproduction and fruit-bearing.

We've often wondered, why is it that some people some people get born again, and yet they have no hunger for God or His Word? They won't eat. Some people seem to believe they can respond to the "altar call" and "pray the prayer" just to get their "eternal life fire insurance". That is—they "accept the Lord" with the idea that by doing so, when they die they don't have to go to hell. Beyond this "fire insurance" type of prayer, there's no real hunger or thirst for God and His Word. They don't eat. Why is that? God and His Word are available, standing by, ready to feed a hungry Christian! Pastors, teachers and churches are on call, ready to assist on a moments notice. Books and tapes, CDs and DVDs as well as Christian TV programs and the Internet are available in abundance! Everything God wants us to know about Him, His principles for successful living, and spiritual growth are available! The milk and the meat of His Word are being served up! But for some reason, people with "failure to thrive" just won't eat!

Think about it, if someone wants the knowledge of God—if you're hungry, if you're thirsty— you can find food! There's a plethora. There's a Bible-preaching church on every corner. The buffet is open. If you want the knowledge, you can get it. Perhaps that is why the Psalmist declared, "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good ..." (Psalm 34:8, NKJV) Hunger can be stirred up! Get those taste buds moving!

Hundreds of years ago God described his willingness to feed the hungry. "Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it's all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul!" (Isaiah 55:1-2, NLT) (Use this in junk food too.)

Why? It's sad isn't it? Why would a believer have the "failure to thrive" condition? My friend's little baby would not eat for a reason! There was an underlying cause for "failure to thrive." Eventually, here's what they discovered. When the baby was born and coming through the birth canal, her hips were broken. She was born with a broken hip. As a result, when her mom held her up to the breast to nurse the baby felt intense pain! She began to scream and she would not eat! The baby associated physical and emotional pain with eating and because of this loses the desire to eat!

How many of you know this is true of a lot of Christians? Sometimes there's a reason people are not hungry. Perhaps you've experienced some "pain" in your life—before you came to Christ and/or after you've been born again. Are you associating God with some type of pain? If so, the result could be a lack of spiritual hunger: failure to thrive!

For example, maybe you prayed for something at one time and for whatever reason it seemed like God didn't answer your prayer or He didn't answer it the way you thought He should, and so you got mad at the Lord. You got hurt and as a result you're not hungry for "that kind of" God.

Maybe someone you loved died and you got angry at God and ran away from His direction. Maybe you had a bad experience in church, with church leaders or fellow Christians that brought pain to your life, whether it was a legitimately bad church experience or your perception of a hurtful experience—nonetheless, it caused you pain. Maybe you've experience deeply painful events or abuse in your life and you wonder why God did not stop it or prevent it or rescue you from it and as a result you've blamed or become bitter towards the Lord.

These "pains" may be causing you to suffer from "spiritual failure to thrive." It may be that you're not hungry because the last time you tried to "eat," it ended up hurting you! You tried that spiritual eating thing once, and it hurt. The way you protect yourself is to avoid the thing that caused you pain! You avoid God. You avoid the Bible. You avoid church. You avoid pastors and spiritual leaders. You avoid Christians. The only problem is—you don't feel any better! In fact, because you're not growing, you likely are feeling worse! You're probably feeling weaker emotionally, sadder emotionally, emptier inside and more disillusioned. Running from God has not solved anything—and you've developed a classic case of "failure to thrive spiritually."

The Cure.
What must happen to reverse the spiritual failure to thrive? If you've felt like God let you down, if you've been hurt, offended by a Christian, or pastor or church, the first thing that needs to happen is healing!

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD ..." (Isaiah 61:1-2, NKJV)

Let God heal your pain, your broken heart, your captivity. Let God open the prison door that has kept you bound by failure to thrive! Perhaps the first thing you need to ask God to heal are your taste buds! "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good ..." (Psalm 34:8, NKJV) Taste again! Why not give it a go and with a sincere heart begin talking to the Lord and reading your Bible again so that you can taste the reality that God is always good toward you. This may suprise you, but He's never wanted anything but good things for you. His intentions, His desire and His will for you has been and will always be goodness. He's never had a day that he didn't want good things for you; there was never a day that He was sleeping on the job and forgot about you. He's always wanted and He always wants good things for you.

It's true that sometimes "bad" things happen and there may be "reasons" that some bad things have happened in your life, but on the authority of God's Word I can guarantee you that it was never His will for your life! Often circumstances in a fallen world, our own choices, other people's choices, the adversary of our soul and a host of other things may have contributed to some very painful events in your life, but God has always loved you and He has always wanted the very best for you!

You've got to get that in your mind and in heart! It's true! You've got to make a decision to quit blaming God; to quit doubting God; to quit running from God! Why not begin your recovery today by simply making the decision to say, "OK, I may not always understand everything, but I determine to believe the basic fact that God loves me and He's on my side! I choose to believe that. I make this decision as the beginning of my recovery from any and all spiritual eating disorders! In Jesus Name, Lord help me."

Making that simple decision will help you to begin increasing your desire to eat. If it's true that God is good, maybe you should get to know Him! Again, the psalmist encourages us with this reality! "How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103, NKJV)

To read Part Four, click here.

Copyright © 2007 Beth Jones Ministries All rights reserved.