Wonders...

 He is the one you praise; He is your God; who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Genesis 10:21 NIV Bible

Really this referring to all the miraculous wonders the Lord God did when he freed the Israelites from oppressive labor in Egypt. The Lord God has done some great and awesome wonders in my own life, as well. Sure, the Lord allowed the loss of over 80+ pounds that He's allowed the vast majority of this to stay off for over 30 years. That's a pretty miraculous wonder unto itself! But it's the miracles and wonders that the Lord does inside of my heart, that are even more awesome than the weight loss.

He showed me, although I was reluctant, that I had let food, my insecurities, and my desire to be thin to work a wedge between me and my family, and my relationship with the Lord. I was cranky and irritable, which is probably redundant, but it describes exactly how I felt for many years, because of my sagging self-esteem. God showed me that my excess weight and the size of my clothing wasn't a determiner for my self-worth or my value as a person!

The Lord God showed me that by turning to food to calm me down when feeling insignificant, stressed, or bored, I was turning to food like a false god to take care of me, instead of turning these issues over into the very capable hands of Christ. Once I finally got this message, my whole life started to change. I was no longer eating over things that worried or stressed me. I no longer felt the need to let the scale tell me who I am.  My self-esteem was no longer sagging, although I don't know how to describe it in words. I had a sense of calm in my life. I didn't feel bad about myself anymore and felt more tolerant of others. These are wonders that are so amazing, but you should know, the Lord can do this for you, too, if you let Him!

How Old are You and How Much Do You Weigh-2 Tricky Questions

Genesis 47:8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?” NIV Bible

This is really when the Pharaoh asked Joseph’s father, Jacob, later called Israel, “How old he was?” The thing is this question that isn’t always well received. Actually, my age, although it’s creeping up there, doesn’t bother me. I realized a long time ago, that people have come to dread getting older, because of all the media hype about people needing to be youthful and attractive to have value. I figured the best thing I could do was to be an example to my family that there’s nothing wrong with aging! It’s a good thing that God had this on my heart some years ago, because the wrinkles and saggy skin are really starting to be more apparent.

The question that always was more of an issue for me was, “How much do you weigh?” I guess, first of all, it seems somewhat intrusive for someone to ask that of another person. I think that I tense up when I’ve heard this question, although the Lord God has blessed me with a weight loss of over 80 pounds, and has allowed the vast majority of the weight to stay off for over 30 years. It immediately transports me back to a time where I was the last person picked for a sport, the person that other people tended to ignore, and the person that had a sagging self-esteem!

Fortunately for me, the Lord God showed me that when I put all these insecurities into Christ’s very capable hands, I don’t have to let questions like this cause such a reaction. It’s not because I’m no longer heavy, it’s more that the Lord has shown me that I’m a child of God, no matter what I weigh. No matter whether I’m thin or heavy or something in between. My weight and my age don’t determine who I am as a person, but my faith in Christ is the biggest determiner of my life and my inner peace which comes from the Lord!

Did I Really Learn Anything Through All of This?

 I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn Your righteous laws! Psalm 119:7 NIV Bible

God's blessed me with an 80+ pound weight loss and He has allowed the vast majority of it to stay off for over 30 years. "Did I really learn anything through all of this?" was the thought on my heart, so it's what I want to share with you today. 

• First of all, I can't be so arrogant as to take credit for any of the weight loss, because it started when I put my life, my body, and my stress into the Lord God's very capable hands.
• I learned that I am a sinful human being with many shortcomings, but the Lord loves me despite all of these.
• I learned that I can try to manage my weight and my food, but it always backfired on me, because I was trying to be in control of these things, instead of putting them into Christ's very capable hands.
• I learned that when I turned to food to calm me when I was stress or bored, I was making food a false god, instead of turning these things over to Jesus to be in control of my life and my family's lives.
• I learned that if I am prayerful and truly listen to the feelings He puts on my heart, the Lord will show and guide me about what I should and shouldn't do.
• I learned that the Lord God loves me just as I am whether I am thin or heavy or something in between!
• I learned that there have been times where I didn't love myself whether I was thin or heavy or something in between!
• I learned that when I'm fearful or stressed, if I pray about it, the Lord God always sees the BIG picture and will either take care of the issue in His timing, or guide me in what I should or shouldn't do.
• I learned that just because I was blessed with losing weight, doesn't make me more special than anyone else, because the Lord can do this for each of us, if we truly ask Him. [Note: He had lessons for me to learn first, like how food had become a false god in my life, before He allowed the weight to come off.]
• I learned that when the Lord has done something so wonderful for us, it's good to be open to sharing it with others in a way that's beneficial and not arrogant.
• I've learned that I don't truly have lessons for you to learn. I'm just writing down the things the Lord has on my heart to share.

Worrying, Fretting, Stressing, It's All the Same Thing!

 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27 NIV Bible

I used to plan my budget before the next month and I would worry all month whether I'd have enough money to pay our monthly bills. I stressed about it and fretted over it and ate my heart out with worry! 

At a point, the Lord God showed me that worrying, fretting, and stressing all show that I don't trust the Lord God to take care of me and my family. It's as if I were saying, "Lord, I'm not sure You are going to provide food for us and have us make our financial obligations, so I'm going to try to figure out a different plan, in case You fail to take care of us!" When I realized that's what I was saying to my Lord and Savior, I was terribly saddened. 

He had given His life on the cross to save me from my many sins and shortcomings, yet I didn't trust Him enough to take care of us! It was difficult at first, to turn all the planning and recalculating over into Christ's very capable hands, but when I did, things started falling into place! It was so amazing! There was ample food to eat and the monthly financial obligations got paid. The more I put this in the Lord God's very capable hands, the less stress I had and the less I ate over the things out of my control that I ate over. This made a major difference in my life, my stress level, and my body!