Okay, web friends, I’m going to share my heart with you. I don’t know how many of you out there battle your weight, but sometimes I feel very overwhelmed with mine. Either I live on a diet, meaning I can’t eat any breads, sweets, etc. on a regular basis, or I weigh what I do right now which is about 30 lbs. too much. There is nothing more frustrating to me. Clay tries really hard to understand but when you have a built-in metabolism like he does and can eat anything and as much of anything and never gain weight, it’s hard to relate. Last year at this time I was walking 3 miles 5 days a week, sticking to 1200 calories a day and I weighed less than I had weighed in a long time. Around March of this year I slacked up on the walking and now here I am 8 months later and I’ve gained back all 30 lbs. Urrrggghhh! So I sat this morning during my quiet time very discouraged and aggravated at myself. Why would I quit walking? Why would I eat anything that tastes really good? Why can’t I figure this thing out and know that with my metabolism I cannot enjoy the “finer things in life”? I opened Jesus Calling and there He was speaking words of encouragement to me. My strength to stick to a diet will never come from within, it will never be because of my will power. Working out regularly and sticking to a schedule of walking or aerobics will never happen if I depend on my own might. My strength will only come from the Lord, and the joy that I have in Him will provide all the will power that I need.

So that sums up my problem. I depend on my own strength and my own ability to “resist temptations” and it never lasts. What I must do is keep my focus on Him and allow the joy that I have in Christ to provide the strength that I need to overcome my weight issues once and for all. You know it hit me this morning that for me to lack discipline in that area is a sin - it absolutely is! It’s not that I’m obese but I know what I need to do and when I don’t do it, that makes it wrong. This has been an enlightening day for me. Does that mean that I believe the Lord expects me to go the rest of my life and never have dessert? Absolutely not. The Bible is very clear that what goes into our bodies is not the sin. There are no right or wrong foods. He created them all. It’s what we do with what goes in, hence portions. Practicing discipline with my portions will take care of my problem and nothing will be off limits. And a disciplined workout on a regular schedule will kick it up a notch. I walked a mile and a half in my neighborhood this morning up and down hills. It felt great!

Thank you for allowing me to spill my guts and bare my soul to you. Prayerfully this will encourage you in an area of your life that you may be struggling with. Allow the joy of Christ to be the source of your strength. He wants us to have victory in every area of our life. Why not start today?

“…the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

“May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope” (Romans 15:13 Amplified).

Have a great weekend. I’m actually going to spend the weekend at home - can’t wait!

Hope

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 2:55 pm and is filed under Hope's Devotionals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.