I believe in Freedom. To go further...well beyond the point that people will agree with me: I believe that we can be set free without our having to put effort into it. Completely free. Why? Because IF we could have done this, we would have already. Just look around at how many people are struggling…who have struggled their whole adult lives. (Some have struggled since childhood!) These same people, who, for the last year, have been in hands-on combat with the obsession of food, and have gained; or put in all that hard work and have only a minimal loss when it’s all said and done.
The few successful ones have traded one obsession for another: instead of obsessing about each morsel they put into their mouth and each pound they gain, they are obsessing about each morsel they put into their mouth and each pound they lose.
That’s not freedom in my book! Can I get an “Amen?”
We can’t wrap our minds around the fact that Freedom is just that…being free. Having to manage food every day…having to struggle (even if you are on the winning side of the fight temporarily) the fight every day…to “deal with this for the rest of my life” is NOT Freedom. Never giving thought to my weight, or my food plan, or obsessing about the what/when/how of diets and poundage…that, my Friend, is freedom.
I think, for those of us who are ready to take on the challenge of trusting God, He's got something very precious in store for us: His easy yoke to replace these chains of bondage under which we live.
I believe the key is complete trust. To admit that there is nothing at all I can do to change myself, my core nature, and depend fully on Him to change me. Goes against the grain of our “I have to” thinking, doesn’t it?
I have to try.
I have to plan.
I have to watch what I eat.
I have to count calories.
I have to be accountable for myself.
I have to try harder.
I have to plan harder.
I have to watch what I eat more carefully.
I have to be more accountable…
That’s never worked long term for me. Has it for you? And I believe I’ve struggled just as hard as anybody else, if not harder than some.
What about, your intellect may want to ask, Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." My vision, my plan, is to TRUST HIM. The NKJV puts it this way: Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. I think the revelation is that Jesus already paid the price for my freedom, so why am I struggling so hard for something I can't achieve?
Ever heard the expression, "Letting go and letting Him?" After all my praying for freedom, all I do is hang on with all my might to my “I have to” mentality and never fully trust my Lord to do the very thing I’ve asked Him to do: Free me.
What about, your intellect may want to ask, Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." My vision, my plan, is to TRUST HIM. The NKJV puts it this way: Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. I think the revelation is that Jesus already paid the price for my freedom, so why am I struggling so hard for something I can't achieve?
Ever heard the expression, "Letting go and letting Him?" After all my praying for freedom, all I do is hang on with all my might to my “I have to” mentality and never fully trust my Lord to do the very thing I’ve asked Him to do: Free me.
If God can set the alcoholic and drug addicts free WITHOUT a 12 step program, if He can change Paul's heart (as he was on his way to imprison and torture Christians), if he can change the vilest sinner's heart, he can surely change me…WITHOUT a diet plan that I have to manage and struggle with! Instead of working on my diet plan, I’m going to start working on my trust issues.
