When Food Is Bland and You Don’t Feel Like Eating

I’ve seen it many times after a funeral. Women in the church bring food to the home of someone who lost a spouse, significant other, a precious child, or grandparent as an expression of love and compassion. This is true especially in the South.

But the bereaved can’t eat. Food has lost its taste. “My tears have been my food day and night” (Psalm 42:3).

I’ve heard good intentioned, concerned ladies say, “You’ve got to eat something. It will make you feel better.”

And the reply is, “I just don’t feel like eating. Nothing tastes good to me.”

A traumatic event can cause the loss of appetite and the desire to eat. It can be a death, divorce, loss of a job, loss of a significant relationship, loss of a family pet, or any number of things that make us not want to eat.

King David’s grief was so profound that he refused to eat for seven days. He spent night and day by the crib of his baby boy who had been born to Bathsheba in spite of the elders urging him to eat something.

“The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them (2 Samuel 12:17).

David just emotionally didn’t feel like eating. Yes, there are times for all of us when food tastes bland, and we don’t feel like eating. Friends and family may want us to eat, but we just can’t.

Depression caused by a loss can cause loss of interest in eating. Many people with depression lose both energy and interest in things like food – things that used to give them pleasure and satisfaction.

It’s like we retreat into a dark cave of loneliness and tune everything and everyone out.

Yes, there are times when food tastes bland, and we don’t feel like eating. I’ve had those times, and you have too. But, the sun continues to shine, the birds continue to sing, and one day, we will see and hear again. One day, food will taste good again, and we will feel like eating.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

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Thanks for reading.