Reasons for the Journey Part 3

Well, I was going to wait until tomorrow to do this part, but since I'm still up I figured might as well...

I am sorry to say that this part of my reason didn't come until later.  Much later.  See, I have been in this process for 16 weeks now, so it's not new.  During my quiet time and time of Bible study, the Lord began to point some things out to me that quite frankly, I just didn't really want to hear.  I basically had to accept the fact that my being overweight was, well, sin.  Ouch.  Yeah, that one hurt.  Of course, my first reaction (embarrassingly enough) was to argue my points to the Lord.  Here they are in no particular order:

I am an emotional eater

You don't know my past (duh)

I don't have time to eat right

It's too expensive to buy all the healthy food

It's in my family

You don't know my past hurts that I like to relive (again, DUH)

I..I....well, I.... I AM SOUTHERN DAWG GONE IT AND WE LIKE TO EAT!! (there I said it)

He didn't care.  So, then He showed me why.  You see, what it all boiled down to at the heart of it all, was that I had made food an idol.  Yes, food was an idol for me.  Exodus 20:3-4 says "You shall have NO other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."  Yowch. (is that a word? I don't know)  I had let food replace my God for my needs.  Okay so lets take my list to prove it.

I am an emotional eater-so I turn to food instead of God?  How stupid could I have been?

Guilt from my past-instead of turning to God or the Word to be reminded of my forgiveness, I turned to food for my solace?  Time-you make time for what is important to you...you just do.  Asking God to help me prioritize my time would have been better. And so on and so on...

He didn't stop there.  God made it clear from the very beginning in Genesis 1 that we were created in His image.  He also created us body, mind/soul, and spirit.  Those are three very priceless gifts.  My mirror and scales told me that I was not treating them with the reverence and respect that they deserved.  In 1 Corinthians 6:19, He says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"  My body isn't even my own.  I'm just supposed to take care of it.  And I wasn't doing a very good job.

So, my focus changed, shifted.  I began to commit this area of my life to prayer as well.  After all, doesn't the Word say" IN EVERYTHING, WITH PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION MAKE YOUR PETITIONS KNOWN."?  So, this too.  And, it matters.  It made a difference.  It helps me make better choices.  Sixteen weeks in, I am 41lbs lighter.  And even though I have a way to go, now I feel like I CAN DO THIS.  Not because of anything in myself, but because of Who is in me.