ENCOURAGED IN HEART

My weekly weigh in revealed a one ounce gain. Blah.  I am struggling this month.  As I near my final goal, the refined eating required to continue losing weight is annoying!  Gone are the weekly weigh-ins of two pound losses.  This whole refining my life for life is not for the weak.  I deeply desire to be a champion for Christ.  So, to give myself a pep talk, I journaled about what a true champion is. I came up with three things:

1. A champion is not defined by her defeats.
2. A champion is defined by her sweet victory.
3. The most important step in each champion’s victory is her refusal to quit.

Refusal to Quit.

Right there is the essence of a champion.  For if she quit she’d never have arrived at her sweet victory! I am a champion not because of my obnoxious one ounce gain, but rather for my refusal to quit. Because Galatians 6:9 is so deeply imbedded in my spirit, I trust that God is not a liar, I will reap (a harvest of weight loss), should I not quit.  The sweet victory, that I’m now in single digits to my final goal, is just too close…I smell sweet victory in the air!

The Lord has carried me through numerous intense seasons of pain:  my mother’s death, three of our children’s deaths, my niece’s death, and my marital death.  Through these painful times, slowly my weight crept up as I stuffed each tear down with extra calories, to sooth the pain and grief.

I am receiving emotional healing as God is showing me how to Biblically deal with pain – by crying, journaling, turning to Him, the Bible and my awesome support network.

In Boundaries With Kids by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, they wrote about how you can be a pain embracer or a pain avoider; that pain avoiders don’t grow and that pain embracers do.  My pain avoiding has affected every part of my being:

Physically – I gained weight, experienced joint pain and lost energy.

Emotionally – I isolated myself from my true feelings, myself and others; therefore not letting myself or others know the true me.

Spiritually – I turned to food and rejected God as my comforter.

Do you know what it has taken me to be a champion and face pain? COURAGE.

Jesus turned—caught her at it. Then he reassured her: “Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith, and now you’re well.” The woman was well from then on. (PRAISE GOD!)  Matthew 9:20-22 (MSG)

It took a Jesus-originated courage to embrace pain.  I again need courage to face every part of my being:

Physically – It took courage to show up at the gym in my obese condition.  (I am a military veteran and an athlete all my life.  I faced pain and shame as I faced where I let myself deteriorate to.)

Emotionally – It took (and is taking) courage to learn how to face and say how I am truly feeling (I still struggle in this area!). It takes a whole lot of courage to be an honest emotional steward. Particularly because I am a recovering people pleaser!

Spiritually – (this one is going to sound nutty!) It took courage to learn how to depend on God (I know, I know…He’s GOD!).  I am a rehabilitating self-reliant, can-do, Git-R-Done kinda gal – it requires courage for me to turn from self-reliance to God-reliance.

He gave me strength and courage and as promised, He is blessing me!

“The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace. Psalm 29:11 (NAS)

Have you unlocked your inner champion? If not, what’s blocking you?