God, If You'd Only...

 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in foods. Pay what you have vowed- Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

For many years, I'd pray things like: "God if You'd only let me loose all the weight, I will be a better Christian" or a "better wife" or a "better mother" or a better "friend." As you get the idea, the list could go on and on and on of things I promised I would do for Christ if He'd only let me loose all the weight!

Funny thing is, He did allow the loss of the 80+ pounds, but He didn't do it because I made all these idle promises [vows]. Actually, when He had the weight coming off it didn't really have much to do with me, it had to do with Him. I'll explain. I had tried what seems like 100's of different diets, but of the few that worked, I ended up gaining more than I ever lost. So, one day, I sat on my bed and told God, "I give up! If you ever want me to be thin, you'll have to do it, because I can't!" 

Well, the thing is, that same day, God took away the craving for large amounts of food, for sweets, and excessive carbs. I didn't plan it. I didn't really have anything to do with it. I wondered about this for several years and then Christ had it on my heart. It was that all those years I made my promises/vows to God to help me loose the weight, the key thing was I was asking God was to stand in the wings and let Me lose it. It wasn't until then, I realized that when I gave up control and thinking I could do it, and told God that "if He ever wanted me to be thin, He'd have to do it," was probably one of the first times in my life that I gave up control and put it in God's hands.

Once it was in Christ's very capable hands, He had everything fall into place. Over the months, He showed me so many lessons about me and my eating. Unfortunately, like recently, I've started falling back into old patterns where I want to be snacking, but fortunately for me, I don't have to make any promises or vows. All I have to do is put control into Christ's very capable hands!

Misguided in Trying to Find My Own Path

And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs3:4-6

I have recently gotten off-track with my eating, because I have been craving snacks even when I wasn't hungry. When I start turning to food in times of stress to comfort me, like I used to, shows me that I've been letting food become a false god again. Instead, I should be turning my stress over to Christ's very capable hands.

He's been showing me of late, but I was too slow to realize what was happening. I allowed myself to get frustrated with others and with God, rather than be frustrated with the one who caused all of this: ME! I am only reluctantly realizing that it's been all too long since I've had quiet time with God when I've felt like eating the door knobs off. That's how I describe the feeling like I NEED to eat something! It's not that I'm even truly hungry, but feel the need to eat, even after just having a filling meal. 

Although I've been misguided in trying to find my own path, I am now reminded that I need to acknowledge that I need God to be in charge, not me, and He will direct my paths!

Looking at it with a Different Perspective

 For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another. Psalm 75:6-7

It's been all too easy for me to get caught up in being frustrated with all those who judge the marginalized of the world. It's gotten to the point that I was angry that anyone could be so insensitive to those who have so many struggles.

Then, one day, God had it on my heart that if I hate the haters [of others], I've become a hater, as well. It's kind of a confusing concept, but simple at the same time. Once I grasped the idea, I realized that I have to turn this over to Christ's very capable hands to show me the way to be the Christian He wants!

I need to be compassionate toward those who are marginalized, but I am also supposed to be compassionate toward those who judge the marginalized. It's not an easy tight rope to walk, but it's doable with Christ leading the way. Basically it all boils down to: I am not supposed to judge anyone for any reason and to remember: God is the Judge, not me!

Be Still and Know that I am God!

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10

God has been showing me lots of things about myself lately. Some good, and lots not so good! I've become complacent with things. I take my weight loss that was a blessing from God for granted. I take my relationship with others for granted. I am easily impatient with others, but rarely am prayerful about it first.

It feels like it is all catching up with me today! I had to lay down and have some quiet time with God to prayerfully contemplate all of this. That's the reason that I happen to know now that this has to do with taking so many things, including my relationship with God for granted.

It saddens me to think this, because I love my relationship with Christ my Lord and Savior, but sadly, I've been taking that for granted, as well. I'm not sure how I got off track, since I didn't even realize I was taking all of these for granted. Of course, that is part and parcel of the whole issue! This lets me know I'm not appreciating my relationships with Christ and others the way I should. I'm not appreciating the many blessings that God has bestowed on me like good health, family, etc. 

I just feel torn about this and don't want to be at a distance from my Lord and Savior, nor do I want to be at a distance from anyone else in my life. I'm trying to be prayerful about the changes I need to make and feel overwhelmed and don't know what to do. Then, I ran across this Bible verse: Be Still and Know that I am God! If Christ has me becoming aware of where I've gotten off the right track, if I am prayerful to follow His guidance, He will get me back on track! He can do anything! He is God!

Trying to Give the Straight Scoop

 "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." Deuteronomy 4:2

This passage is important in me, because it reminds me that I always need to give viewers the Straight Scoop! My 80+ pound weight loss and keeping the vast majority of it off didn't come by me or trying harder to stick to some diet. It is all a blessing from God. One day, I sat down and prayed telling God that I was giving up and if He ever wanted me to thin, He'd have to do it Himself, because I couldn't. I was really giving up on dieting and didn't expect anything to happen, but it did starting that very same day. 

This didn't happen because of what a good Christian am. I am sinful and God continues to show me my many shortcomings. Fortunately, He does so, because He gets me refocused on what He wants me to do! I'm not kidding! I had gotten into a bad habit of snacking after dinner, but I wasn't praying about it. One day I did pray about it, but Christ had it on my heart through several different situations that I'm not supposed to do that any more. At first, I thought it was because of the particular thing that I wanted to snack, but it wasn't. This has happened consistently over the last week regardless of what I wanted to snack. Of course, fruits and veggies weren't what I was craving. I found I was frustrated with God, because I REALLY wanted to snack, which is pretty scary! That means I have gotten back into the bad habit of turning to food to comfort me during stressful times which makes it a false god, instead of putting all my stress and concerns into Christ's very capable hands.

He showed me this many years ago, but I was letting those lessons go by the wayside. I used to know that when I want to eat, regardless of whether I'm hungry or not, was usually a sign that I needed to have some quiet time with Christ guiding me about what I was stressing over. Obviously, I need to pay attention to that again! I'm not perfect, but fortunately God takes the time to refocus me again and again and again and again. That's the Straight Scoop!