Episode 240-What God Wants I’ve learned since childhood that I should listen to God. I knew He wanted me to give up sugar and flour and eat more meat, fruits, and vegetables. However, I continued to do the opposite. I was like the people of Jeremiah’s day. “We will not listen to your messages from the Lord. We will do whatever we want … For in those days we had plenty to eat, and we were well off and had no troubles!” (Jeremiah 4:16-17 NLT). My desire to do my own thing regarding what I ate and how I didn’t exercise or listen to God about my health was not working. As a matter of fact, I was eating myself into an early grave. I was eating myself to death and thinking I was having a great time doing it. Because of what I had done to myself, in 1999 I found myself lying in a hospital bed awaiting the results of an angioplasty. The very rude cardiac surgeon came into my room, looked at me and without compassion said, “You don't need open heart surgery. You need to lose at least 100 pounds and keep it off or you'll be dead in five years.” Then, he promptly turned and walked out of the room leaving me very alone. My world came to a screeching halt. I had just been given a death sentence.  Overcomers Academy link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers