A lot of times our biggest struggle with food is that we simply eat too much of it.

Hi, I’m Lysa TerKeurst with Proverbs 31 Ministries. Usually when we find ourselves overeating on a repeated basis, something else is at work. Many refer to it as a form of emotional emptiness.

I can remember times when spiritual and emotional emptiness left me vulnerable. Much of this emptiness stemmed back to coming home from school and being told, “Your daddy’s gone.” Many life-struggles since then have left me feeling vulnerable and empty.

And when I couldn’t figure out how to fill what my heart was lacking, food became a comfort.

I finally realized that overeating was adding to my hurt—not soothing the pain.

One by one I’ve gone to those memories and said, “Yes, this is a circumstance of my life, but it doesn’t define who I am.” And overeating only reaches my stomach but can’t ever fill my soul.