Several weeks ago I committed on my writing site to focus on doing the things that I knew I was supposed to be doing or that I thought I needed to be doing. My time was spent planning for things that I was going to do or needed to do instead of just doing them. This was my action plan that I wrote that day.
I will confess that I have not consistently followed through with the specifics of this list. What I did do was to review my actions and start asking “is this the best use of my time?”
• Not watching television is tough for me at this moment in time. I am an AVID follower of the Olympics – have been for many years. There is no sport to obscure for me to enjoy (and that does mean that I am a curling fan). I gave up working my schedule around the programs. I have set the DVR to record them all and I am watching as my schedule permits.
• I have also set aside three times a day to study the word. One of the studies is a devotional, the other is a Beth Moore and the third is one about discipline. Actually, they all have a lot to do with being disciplined, self-controlled and consistent. It seems that comes up quite a bit in the Bible.
• The final thing that I have been trying to do is “one more thing.” Just before I stop for a break or before calling it a night, I try to do one more project that will only take a few minutes (but not more than about 15).
The results of the changes in my life have been surprising. I have lost six pounds in two weeks. More work is coming in and I have the ability to complete the work. And my home is running better than ever.
The key to my success is not my own efforts. It comes from choosing to draw closer to God. It is my personal relationship with Him that drives every aspect of my life. The more I know Him then the more I can understand about where I am to go and to be in order to rest under His wings.
Where has your focus been? Remember it is the thing that you focus on the most that you worship and will become!
Weight will not be the issue that drags me down. I refuse to let something as small as a bite of food hinder me from my purpose or stand in between me and my relationship with God. I KNOW that gluttony is a sin. I KNOW that eating even one bite outside of physical hunger is gluttony. I know the truth but I still do what I have always done so it should be no surprise that I continue to get what I have always gotten.
It was not always like that. There was a time in my life – a short few years – where I grasped the truth. I ate when I was hungry, I did not life on the scales and I could still fit into my pants. It would be easy to blame my current weight struggles on pregnancy but the simple truth is that I chose to listen to man instead of God. How many of my struggles in life have been caused by that one simple issue?
My weight is not the problem. It is my heart. Any time my heart is not fully devoted to God I end up stumbling over mistakes that I already know to avoid.
What is the answer to weight issues?
The first thing I have to do is realize that there is no easy answer to my weight loss or to any issue that might come up in my life. I could take weight loss pills or follow a diet plan that regulates food but none of those will deal with my heart and eventually that weight loss or eating issue will rear its head once again. I have to face the food straight on and I have to reach out to God every moment of every day if I want to put weight under my thumb.
The second thing I have to do is confess my sin of overeating and of putting other things (food) before God because that is the reason that my weight is where it is. I have to then reach out to those around me. This seems almost funny. You can NOT hide the sin of over eating from anyone because the weight shows, particularly on a five foot frame. But I still try and the only person I am fooling is self. I need to find a group that will support me specifically on my Christian weight loss journey – instead of a weight loss plan that will teach me to control the calories, food or exercise.
The third thing that everyone has to understand is that a walk closer to God is a personal journey even when that walk is about weight. We may be able to share some hints and tips, but we can not share the same path. Every person is drawn along a different way – that is why it is narrow because there is only room for one. A personal relationship with God is just that – personal. There was only one burning bush, only one talking donkey and only one road to Damascus and there can be only one weight loss journey for me.
I am still not sure how I will make all of this come together, but I know that I am eager to try. There are others around me struggling to choose the path that God for their weight and their health has over the ways of man. Helping others lose the weight and deal with eating issues helps me because it keeps me God focused and God centered. With God with me then who can be against me?