The Road Less Travelled

1 Corinthians 9
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

When I was young and full of foolish things that a young girl is full of, I found myself well, a little chunky. I hated it. All the magazines were filled with beautiful tall and skinny models and I wanted to be one of them. So I did what any foolish young girl would do and that was to not eat for several meals. Well that seemed to do the trick, for a time. Of course, you mature and find out that not eating a few meals is not only unhealthy, it doesn’t stand the test of time and you end up gaining more weight that you lost before. So I then did what any respectable young woman would do, I took diet pills. I was always looking for that quick “get skinny” scheme. Wanting to be 10 pounds lighter the next day. Heaven forbid that I actually did exercise or eat healthy, things that were good for my bones. That took too much time. Who has the patience? Now that I am a woman and see the errors of my ways, I have become familiar with Weight Watchers. No starving yourself, no diet pills. Just plain good common sense in order to lose weight….and keep it off. And I am proud to say that I have lost over 25 pounds now, and kept them off.

I never thought that weight loss would teach me so many things. The one thing that first comes to mind is patience. I have come to realize in my life that good things come to those that wait on the Lord. People, let me tell you I do not do that very well at all. I am the one yelling at God asking Him “why won’t you talk to me”, “ I want answers NOW”. He never answered. He was always quiet. He did tell me “Be still and know that I am God” (coming home from a weightwatchers meeting by the way) While I have lost 25 pounds, I did not lose it over night. I lost it over several months and half a pound at a time. That taught me to wait. Don’t rush. You will reap the rewards.

Another very important lesson that it taught me was self indulgence. While you may think that starving yourself is not an indulgence, it is. You are willing to do something that is not good for you in order to satisfy your desire…and quickly. Being overweight is a HUGE form (no pun intended) of self indulgence. When we are indulgent whether it be with food, cars, tv, money we are serving another master. Jesus tells us to be balanced in all things. He will provide you your needs. We are not to serve two masters. We are to trust in Him, Wait on Him, Worship Him, talk to Him and He will bring life to our bones. If you are willing to do these things that He requires of us, I guarantee you will find peace and happiness….and keep it till He comes back.

Dear Lord, You tell us to be still and know that You are God. That is so hard. Society tells us to go here, do this, take that. You tell us to trust You and lean on only You. We want to Lord. We have the willing spirit, but our flesh is weak Lord. Help us. Help us to understand. Open our hearts to see and understand your ways. We do want peace and happiness and of course we want it now. Show us how to humble ourselves Lord. What we need to sacrifice or give up so we can not only have inner peace, but also keep it. In your most powerful name. AMEN