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.

"It's Time for a Change."

Photo Courtesy of Serdar Burak

Have you ever uttered those words to yourself?

Uttering them is one thing. Acting upon them is a whole 'nother ballgame.

For several months, I've been looking at my expanding waistline, saying, "It's time for a change."

But by the end of the day, I was hitting the cookie box again. Because "just one more" couldn't hurt, could it?

By the end of the month, I found myself squee-eezing into the jeans I'd only purchased a couple of months before, which were a size larger than the ones I'd worn last summer.

"It's time for a change." That voice in my head went off again, and I hit the snooze button for another month. And I ate a few more cookies. Had another mocha. Visited the fast food restaurant (because, after all, I was in a hurry that day).

But not in a hurry to change...

Now it's six months later. My jeans are still tight. They even rub my belly button by the end of the day. My waist line is sagging (as well as other parts). And I jiggle when I do anything remotely active. Not appealing to me. Not pleasing to God.

How do I know it's not pleasing to God? Because it's His still small voice I've been hitting the snooze button on. What's He been saying? Here are some examples:

You don't want to put on so much weight you won't be able to get it back off.

You need to start now, if you want to be healthy when you're older.

You won't get through mid-life with much energy eating the way you do now.

Your body is my temple; you really should take better care of it.

Which made me stop and think:

If my body is His temple (because His Holy Spirit dwells within me), and I'm treating it like I am (not taking very good care of it), what does that reflect about other areas of my life? Have I let go of other things, too? How is my spiritual life? How about my marriage, my relationship with my kids, my home, my career? Have I gotten lazy about them, too?

I decided it is time to make that change. And I put action behind that thought.

This week, I've started juice fasting. I'm taking part in a 15 Day Weight Loss Program through Birchcreek Retreat. I'm supposed to lose 15 pounds in 15 days. Between yesterday and today, I've already lost three pounds.

I'm also exercising. I do cardio exercise for thirty minutes a day for fifteen days.

What about after fifteen days is up? I will continue to eat healthier and avoid the sweets that I've been addicted to. (I'll eat them in moderation, such as once a week in small amounts.) I will continue to exercise at least three times per week. I will continue to honor the Lord by honoring the earth suit he gave me and pray that I live to see it wrinkle with age, rather than fat.

What about you? Is there something in your life God's been whispering about? Do you keep hitting that snooze button? Here's some spiritual food for thought:

"I went by the field of the lazy man,
 And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;
 And there it was, all overgrown with thorns;
 Its surface was covered with nettles;
 Its stone wall was broken down.
 When I saw it, I considered it well;
 I looked on it and received instruction:
 A little sleep, a little slumber,
 A little folding of the hands to rest;
 So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
 And your need like an armed man."
 ~Proverbs 24:30-34