But It Hurts

Image Courtesy of Julien Tromeur

I have a confession to make: I don't like juicing. Nor do I like exercising. 

I can't stand cutting veggies and fruit into bits and pieces that will fit through my juicer. 

I don't like straining raspberry seeds through my teeth as I drink my morning smoothie. 

Nor do I like trying to keep up with exercise instructors who've been shaking their Zumba hips long enough to look cool while I flounce around, realizing I'm too stiff and look rather foolish.


No. I don't like any of these at all. 




What I do like is the results of being obedient in pursuing the results I hope for:
1. My weight is producing smaller numbers each time I step on the scale.
2. My waistline is trimming down. (I may be able to buy smaller shorts and capris this summer.)
3. I can feel my stomach muscles underneath my muffin top. And my legs are killing me, but I can walk taller knowing Zumba is tightening my flab.
4. About that muffin top...it's decreasing in size, as well. Faster than I expected.
5. I feel better, have more energy, and am not as groggy and down in the dumps as I was last month.

It's a season of Lent and most people I know are giving up something they hold onto all year. In biblical terms, they're fasting. Denying themselves something in order to honor God as King of their hearts (and minds). It takes self-control, dedication and determination. And it hurts.

Another word associated with fasting is sacrifice. We don't like to make sacrifices. We don't like to feel the pain of letting go of something or someone in order to show God who is boss in our lives. We don't like to have to forgo meat or cookies or a bad relationship we think is bringing us love in order to place God first in our hearts. The pain resembles having a tooth pulled without Novocane or a bandage pulled off super-slow from a hairy part of our anatomy. It hurts.

But we don't serve a God who can't understand the pain of sacrifice, of letting go, of proving our love for Him. Because He did the same for us.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
 ~ John 3:16-17 (NKJV)

He understands perfectly well. 

So when we face the pain of sacrifice in our lives, we should remember the outcome we strive toward. Whether it's the inheritance of the kingdom of God, security in His love or the pounds of fat falling from a pear-shaped form, the gain is worth all the pain it took to get there. Obedience to the call is the only requirement.