Cissie Graham Lynch is the daughter of Franklin Graham and granddaughter of evangelist Franklin Graham. She opened up about her long term struggle with an eating disorder and shared how she eventually recovered after soaking herself with God’s word.
Cissie stated that her first encounter with an eating disorder was in high school after her classmate lost a whole lot of weight, which brought a whole lot of attention.
“And that is when my eating disorder and addiction began. Three years of misery. It first started with just a small diet, then diet pills, and then laxatives.
Every night I went to bed angry that I allowed myself to eat too much during the course of the day. And since I didn’t think I could control my eating habits, I turned to laxatives.”
Some days, she would take up to eight pills and hide them in her car or locker, backpack and any other place she could think of.
“Many nights I cried myself asleep. I was angry because of what I ate, and cried because of the bondage it had over me,” she recalled. “I wanted to be set free.
I prayed countless nights, ‘Lord please allow me to see myself through your eyes and not my own.’ Over and over again I prayed.”
For three years, Cissie prayed for three years for the Lord to heal her.
“I guess I expected an overnight miracle, but those rarely exist in these situations.”
Eventually, it was when she took a semester off work to minister at an orphanage in Thailand that she realized she was no longer thinking of herself. It became a thing of taking these pills morning and night.
“first thing in the morning or last thing at night.”
But as soon as she decided to serve Jesus wholeheartedly before serving herself, Cissie found deliverance from her struggles.
“I was there to serve others, but most importantly I was serving the Lord. My days were filled with His word and His promises,” she said. “Being flooded with God’s Word was the only tool that could pull me out of my pit…He gave me the desires of my heart.”
It has been reported that an estimated 10 million Americans suffer from potentially life-threatening eating disorders, according to U.S. News & World Report, and at least one person dies as a direct result from an eating disorder every 62 minutes.
Christian actress Candace Cameron Bure has also previously opened up about her struggles with bulimia and how her faith helped her heal.
“I found strength and my path to eating disorder recovery through my faith.”
