Arthur W. M.D. Halliday - Hunger Within: A Biblical Approach to Weight Management

We gratefully acknowledge these people who have contributed significantly to this book:

• The thousands of Thin Within participants who have shared their struggles as well as their victories and who have taught us far more than we have taught them.
• All of our faithful friends who have prayed for us over these many years.
• The pastoral staff of Peninsula Bible ChurchBrian Morgan, Gary Vanderet, and John Hannemanfor their excellent teaching of the Scriptures.
• Serena OFarrell, our dear friend, who patiently and prayerfully persevered with us in the writing of this book.
• Sheila Kogan, our treasured friend, whose helpful suggestions brought clarity to this manuscript.
• Pat Patmore and Jane Alexander for their wisdom, support, and suggestions.
• Roy M. Carlisle, our agent, for all his support and encouragement during the years of discussions and planning involved in the birthing process of this book.
• Joy Imboden Overstreet, cofounder of Thin Within and special friend since 1975, whose contribution made this book possible.
• Linda Wilder for the many hours she spent reading the manuscript, making invaluable suggestions, and openly sharing the joys and sorrows of her life.
• Jennifer Jansons, our dear sister in the Lord, who spent many prayerful hours reading, editing, and writing material for this revised edition. Thank you for your faithful partnership.
• Bill Petersen, our first publisher, for his belief in this message, his faith in us, and his expertise in the publishing process.
• Debra Sands Miller, our collaborator, who spent hundreds of hours organizing our material and presenting it in a lucid literary form. For all of your effort and for being courageous when the going was tough, our deep gratitude.
• Most importantly, we give thanks and all praise to our Lord and Savior. We hope and pray that this message is consistent with your Word and that it will minister to many of your precious flock.

Hunger is a universal experience. Television, newspapers, and magazines bring wide-eyed and sunken-cheeked faces of starving people around the world into our homes and our hearts, and we are grieved. Yet even those of us fortunate enough to have an abundance of food are hungry. We sit down three times a day to tables laden with food, but our deepest hunger is not satisfied.

Each of us has a hunger deep within where no one can see. And although it may not be obvious, this hunger is the most universal of all. It is the silent hunger within an unfulfilled soul, which has been muted by years of behavior designed to still its voice and prevent it from being heard.

But this hunger within cannot be completely silenced. It cries out to be heard and struggles to express our deepest yearnings to be loved, protected, and considered precious. It is a God-given hunger for an authentic relationship wherein our deepest needs for security and significance can be substantially met.

Unfortunately, when these needs are not met, we may turn to food, drugs, alcohol, work, gambling, pornography, or other compulsions in an attempt to fill the void. But if the bad news is that our attempts to satisfy this hunger on our own have failed, the good news is that God has already provided the path to a life of satisfaction, eternal fulfillment, and freedom. You may wonder how this is possible, but Scripture tells us, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26).