HOPE in the Lord

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

Verse Reflections:  Once again, the focus is all back on the Lord.  We can be strong but only if we have our hope in the Lord.  We cannot depend on ourselves.  We cannot depend on a temporary diet.  Yes, we might lose weight but it will come back without long-term changes.  God has given us the food, beautiful pure foods that taste wonderful.  God has instructed us.  We can have hope when He is our Lord, when His plan is our plan, when we listen to His word, when we eat the foods He has created.  Many of us are so frustrated because we have clothes in our closet that we cannot wear, because we are not confident in our looks.  Perhaps we saw a picture of ourselves with arms larger than our head (an optical illusion I’m sure), a stomach that showed through our clothes, a couple (or more) chins.  Whatever the reason we get down on ourselves.  And what do we do?  We eat!  It makes perfect sense to me.  I’ve been doing this for years.  I feel fat so I feel depressed.  I feel depressed so I eat.  And guess what?  For two or three hours I am soooo very happy.  Food is a narcotic for me.  The foods I choose make me happy physically. Then what happens?  I crash, actually my sugar levels crash and so I literally crash physically and mentally.  And so the cycle repeats.  Again and again and again and again… When I limit my carbohydrates to one per day and my “splurges” to one per day I am amazed at how little I crave the “fixes”.  My unhealthy eating habits leave me even hungrier after a meal than I was before I began.  God +1 allows me to stop eating and to feel full.  Amazing.  I can hope in the Lord.  I can be strong and take heart.  My clothes are already fitting better.  I can take heart that slowly but steadily I am getting stronger (and skinnier).

Prayer:  Thank You Father that I can have hope when You are Lord of my life.  Thank You that I can be strong when You are my Lord.  It is an amazing new cycle for me.  When I eat Your foods, I don’t crave the other foods.  Keep me on this path Lord, Keep me strong.  Thank You that I can take heart, I can have hope in the rest of my life.  It has only been five months and I really do have hope in the way I am eating.  Thanks for giving me a new direction I can live with.  You know I am not a lettuce bunny.  I can’t live that way.  Thank You for teaching me that I don’t have to be.  I can eat steak, pork chops, chicken… oh yeah. AND I can fit in my jeans.  Okay, it ain’t pretty yet but I have hope in You.  Thank You for being my Lord, for speaking loud enough for me to hear You and I hope one day I can pass this hope onto others.  You are amazing.  I know my life, all of it would be so much easier if I would just be quiet and listen.  I’m working on it.  I have hope in You.  Thank You for that.  Love You.