Understanding and Peace

January 19, 2017

Day 19:  The Wisdom Diet:
"Don't be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.  Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones." —Proverbs 3:7-8

As the title for today's entry would suggest, Dr. Anderson focuses his anecdote on diets.  Many people can relate to the pitfalls of diet fads that claim to render amazing results.  The woman Dr. Anderson was seeing had lost a total of 25 pounds in just two weeks.  Great results, right? Yes, but it was not a healthy way to lose the weight and could cause one's kidneys to fail.  Anderson likens Betsy, the woman of his anecdote, and her dietary plan to how we are with God.  "We forsake his wisdom in favor of what we think will be a faster, better, or less demanding way to get what we want." However, God knows what we do not.  "He is the source of all wisdom. That includes nutritional wisdom."  Anderson encourages us to ask God to help us choose healthy ways of living, ways that will benefit both our bodies and our spirits.

Almost three years ago I set out to lose 50 pounds.  I had gained a lot of weight due to stress, not eating well, and not exercising.  I did not take care of myself and was running myself into the ground. One day I looked in the mirror and was completely disgusted with what I saw.  Something had to be done.  I was never one for diet fads and quick fixes because I knew many people who were and it did not work out well.  They would lose weight and then gain it back and more.  I knew that there would be no "easy fixes."  I told myself that it took me years to put the weight on, it will take awhile to take it off. It took me exactly 51 weeks to lose the 50 pounds.  I changed my diet by having at least 4 oz of protein at each meal, limiting sugar and carbs, and adding in a lot more vegetables. In addition to diet, I exercised for at least 25 minutes to an hour a day, six days a week.  No more mocha frappuccinos for me.   It is not that I relied on God specifically to help me by praying or reading his word, but I did rely on the wisdom of nutritionists, trainers, and the general biblical principle regarding diligence: "all hard work brings a profit" (Proverbs 14:23).

Now that I have removed the physical excess weight I had and have kept it off, my goal is to remove the spiritual weight of my past and realize the truth of Jesus' words when he said, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). As I mentioned in my post titled "My Current Perspective," that is not how I have been viewing being a child of God. I said that being a child of God is "painful and never easy.  It's a constant battle."  I do not feel that way right now, which is fantastic, but I still have work to do in this area.  It's very easy to fall back into old ways of thinking, just as it is easy to fall back into bad eating habits.  One old way of thinking that I'd like to avoid is the idea that I am not a true disciple of Christ because I cannot go back to living my life as I had done while I was in my former church.   My church, though the leaders believed otherwise, was really a works focused faith. There were many things that we had to do to be in good standing with God, outward displays of faithfulness to God and his one true church (the ICC). Looking back I can see how we were, at least I was, continually striving to make myself acceptable to God through the things that I would do (works). To be fair, the things that we were being asked to do, such as attend all church services and events, study the bible with people, invite people to church, tithe sacrificially, be open about sin, open to correction and open to sharing and using our talents, not holding attitudes, being out of ourselves, serving and loving others unconditionally, were not bad things.  It was the pressure and the importance placed upon the enactment of these things that led to a "self-righteous" fulfillment of duty, rather than an act of gratefulness, love, and acceptance of God's grace and his gift of salvation. Though it was not the church's intent, that was the result due to methods used.

I know that I will be battling my past perceptions for sometime, but I am willing now to lay these perceptions before God and trust that he will lead me to understanding and peace regarding his word and his will for me.