For YEARS I chased every single diet program. Bought all the books. Paid all of the absurd prices for the programs that showed all of the people becoming thin. I wanted all of it. I wanted to wake up skinny, NOW! But as I stepped through my late thirties, all I lost was my ability to control my weight. And from it, I became depressed and frustrated; defeated.
What I’m about to share with you, I only know now because of hindsight. I had NO way of knowing this THEN, but wow could it be powerful for someone reading this today. You see, a handful of years ago I heard God whisper 'Surrender' in my heart. At the time I was doing morning yoga, running on the treadmill before bed at night, and eating 500 fewer calories per day. I was defeated and often ran to wine to comfort my broken heart after I saw the scale STILL going the wrong way. But then I decided to just stop it all. To lean into this “surrender”. I didn’t know how to surrender, what to surrender or even if I could succeed at it. But I did. I started to trade my morning workout for God. I started to read the bible and talk to Him in my journaling. And that’s when it happened…I began to lose weight. Now trust me, there’s more to the weight loss than this, so hang with me here. As I read my bible this MORNING, in Genesis, I couldn’t HELP but realize how what I’d just read was exactly what God did to me!
You see, just like Abraham in Genesis 22:1-2, I was led in my spirit to GIVE UP losing weight and constantly seeking 115# on the scale. Despite having NO faith that it would work; I did it. I GAVE UP EXERCISING and traded it for time with God. I had NO IDEA, at the time, that I was beginning the process of sacrifice. In Genesis, when God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, God didn’t want Abraham’s son, Isaac, to die. He wanted Abraham to sacrifice Isaac in his heart so that it would be CLEAR that Abraham loved God more than he loved his promised and long-awaited son. God was testing Abraham. And He tested me! I didn’t know this THEN, but I know it now! God tests us not to trip us up but to deepen our capacity to OBEY Him. Just as fire refines ore to extract precious metals, God refines us through difficult circumstances. When we are tested, we can complain, or we can try to see HOW God is stretching us to develop character.
The purpose of testing is to strengthen our character & deepen our commitment to God and HIS perfect timing. During Abrahams testing; he deepened his commitment to obey God and learned that God will provide. I was the same way! My weight loss was literally laid on the metaphorical alter to be sacrificed for God. And in my surrender of my worldly desire, God saw my heart. He saw that while I wanted that number on the scale, I wanted HIM more. And with every day that I stepped closer to Him, I learned obedience at such a profound level that I was able to easily apply it to my meal plan. And from this new obedient nature, came my weight loss. Not because I had stronger willpower. But because I had strong God Power. The closer I drew Him; the stronger He made me. And in my surrender of this world; God has provided me a new life. I encourage you today, that if you are struggling to lose weight; surrender it. Put your goals on the alter. Trade the gym for HIM. Then, sit back and watch how He changes you from the inside out! If He can do it for me; He CAN do it for you!
(My coaching note: if you read this and thought, “I don’t have time to read my bible” yet you have time for a Netflix series, or time for the gym, then you might not have a weight loss problem at all. Just a misaligned priority problem. It’s reversible. Less world; more God; even in weight loss!!)