by Heidi Bylsma | Dec 8, 2008 | Blog
Genesis 1:1-2, 9, 11 is the primary text for the lesson today.
Mr. Cleveland does a masterful job in drawing out the parallels in the creation passage that apply to our lives as new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
If you look at the creation passage, you can see the condition of the earth before the Lord spoke over it. It was formless, void, in darkness, and submerged underneath the water. The lesson has us analyze our former habits of overindulging in food. As I did this, this is what I came up with:
My life was chaotic. I knew what I was supposed to do, but didn’t do it, so I lived in constant tension…the “formless,” aimless, confused reference in the Genesis account applies. I was empty and looked to food to fill the “void,” but the emptiness remained or even grew. I was in darkness as my willingness to continue in sin knowingly was a very great darkness keeping my eyes from seeing the light of the glory of God so very often. I felt like I was drowning, submerged beneath my sin, shame, and hopelessness.
Can you relate? As you look at the Genesis passage, in what ways is your life of overeating (either formerly or now if it is applies) like the description of the earth before the Lord spoke over it?
God spoke over the earth and brought light through His Word.
So, we were indeed confused, empty, in darkness, and buried in sin. But the Holy Spirit was “hovering” over us and God said, “let there be light.” And the Word brought light into our hearts. (TLT, p. 90)
The earth was brought up out of the water and became fruitful, all because the presence of the Lord and His spoken Word! This is us, too, if we are in Christ. The Lord breathes His Word over us and we come up out of the darkness, up out of the submerged place we were in. He brings order to our chaos and floods us full so that our emptiness is filled with His presence. He makes us fruitful in Him as well!
God has made us new creations in Christ. Often we don’t live according to this truth. For me, that is one meaning of these words of Jesus’:
If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23b)
I KNEW the truth and I knew the way to be out of my bondage, out of the darkness, out of the chaos…but I refused to live according to that light. So the light within me was darkness…therefore the darkness was SO great!
I praise the Lord that I have burst up out of that place by HIS power…a resurrection of sorts! There IS hope for you, Dear One! Just as there is for me! If you feel like the earth before God spoke His Word over it…formless, void, darkened, and submerged…allow the Word to have it’s transformational affect. His grace speaks it over us each time we need it!
Take these words to heart from Soul Revolution by John Burke: “God could care less about how messed up you are, how far you’ve fallen, or how ‘good’ you’ve been. What he wants to know is, ‘How willing are you right now–in this moment?'” (p. 13)
by Heidi Bylsma | Dec 7, 2008 | Blog
This lesson focused on Galatians 5:16: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
The desires of the flesh include gratifying our desire for food whenever we want without regard for godly boundaries. If we do not want to continue to live as those who gratify our flesh repeatedly through overeating (or whatever the struggle may be), then we must walk by the Spirit.
The question becomes, what does it mean to walk in, with, or by the Spirit, then? If that is the way to be free from indulging my flesh, then I want to do it! I need to know what it means!
The author provides a quote from Matthew Henry (a biblical commentator) to help with this as well as a deeper look at the context of Galatians 5:16.
To me, walking in the Spirit means that I am focusing more on what my soul needs as a constant theme in my life than I am on what the flesh demands. I am prayerful and practicing gratitude. I welcome the presence of God’s Word in my life and allow it to guide me through this life. That means I have to spend time reading, studying, and meditating on it prayerfully. Then, as I go through life, each moment I can choose to capture for the Lord or for the flesh. I don’t minimize my choices, but know that each one will add to the likelihood of my feeding my flesh or heeding the Spirit. I will indulge my flesh or I will feed my soul. I will build a closer connection to the Lord, or I will build a wall. I choose to capture the moment for hte Lord, I choose to heed the Spirit, I choose to feed my soul. I choose to build a closer connection to the Lord.
As I continue to reject Satan’s accusations when I DO blow it, as I continue to believe that the previous moment has passed and can’t be recaptured and quit condemning myself for past mistakes, as I grab a hold of THIS moment and ask “Lord, what will you have me be, do, say, think, feel (even, eat) in this moment?” I will have a direction and I can follow it. There will come peace. Joy…all the fruit of the Spirit listed there in Galatians 5. It will be in my life as it is the life of the Spirit that emmerges in and through me.
But it is a step by step heeding of His voice. One babystep at a time. One moment at a time. One thought at a time.
What can I do today to be sure that I am more likely to walk in the Spirit? If I walk in the Spirit I will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
by Heidi Bylsma | Dec 6, 2008 | Blog
Practical–this lesson is totally practical!
Mike Cleveland shows that an eating “accident” (outside of our God-given boundaries) happens when a series of mini-events, one upon another, results in the “wreck.” He shares about how his job as an airplane pilot causes him to read and analyze airplane wrecks in the past. His eye is on how to avoid the same pitfalls that resulted in the accidents. This has caused him to see that most airplane wrecks happen following a chain of events.
He asks the participant to then evaluate what are the links in the chain that lead to an eating “wreck” in their life. This is mine:
1. Usually there is an emotional trigger, disappointment, frustration of some kind.
2. Usually I am doing something without a focus–my mind is free to wander. This may be watching a movie with the family, or surfing the internet.
3. I begin to think about the food, what it would taste like, how good it will be, that “I deserve it,” and entertain thoughts of justifying why this wouldn’t really be outside of my boundaries.
4. Hardening of my heart to God by resisting thoughts of him.
5. Getting up and going into the kitchen.
6. Eating it.
Mr. Cleveland’s suggestion is that at any point in this chain, we can break the link…and this will derail the head-on collision with sinful eating.
For instance, in my own example, here are some ideas about how I could change things up:
1. When the emotional trigger hits, I can truth journal. This is something taught in Barb Raveling’s Freedom From Emotional Eating workbook. I have blogged about this process previously. Basically, truth journaling includes writing about how I feel about what is going on, what I want to do about it and then prayerfully evaluating what I have written and what of my thoughts are lies and which are truths…then writing out a corresponding truth for each lie to combat the lie and refuse to be duped by it.
2. There are a few ways of changing this one…If I am doing something mindless, I can be prayerful as I sit down to do it. Surely, a movie with my family isn’t something I need to *stop* doing necessarily, but I can do it *differently*–prayerfully aware of my vulnerability and seeking God with a humble heart!
I realized when I looked over a week’s worth of reports to my accountability partner that my violation of my 0 to 5 eating boundary was happening consistently while watching a movie with my family. While not watching movies could be one way of handling it, I don’t prefer to do that as time with my family is important to me. We do incorporate other things to do together into our lives and that is one way of handling this.
Another way of handling this is a recommitment to the boundary of not eating when the screen is on. If I eat, it must be at the table with nothing else happening (one of the keys to conscious eating from the Thin Within book). It isn’t likely that I will announce to the family “Turn off the show for 5 minutes while I eat” unless I am at a 0! 🙂
3. If I find myself beginning to think about food I want and other thoughts that are heading toward a “crash,” I will take what little strength I have and breathe a prayer, “Lord, change my want to!” I can also choose to take captive my thoughts and make them obedient to Christ. Applying what yesterday’s lesson was about, I can choose to take my focus OFF of the food and OFF of indulging my flesh, and put it ON Christ and HIS sacrifice…all HE has done for me to free me from the hold of sin. Of all of these ideas, this one is, perhaps, the toughest, so it is best if I can stop the chain before it gets to this third link.
4. If I can sense that I am hardening my heart to God by resisting thoughts of him, it is time to get on my knees! This is that tough moment…where my choice makes or breaks me. This little moment is where indiscretion or a godly choice are made. Last night, I felt it so clearly. It really was a single solitary moment when I chose to say NO to the temptation…and YES to God. Once the choice was made relief came! I was free from the hold of food (in that moment). My choice *softened* my heart further to the Lord instead of *hardened* my heart further. This is one reason why I believe so strongly that it isn’t about the food. It is about what happens in my heart at the moment I choose to eat or not. I am callusing my heart further to the tender voice of the Spirit OR I am tendering my heart to Him.
5. Going into the kitchen to get the food won’t be as rewarding or as easy to do if I don’t have my kitchen filled with foods that I find hard to resist…I have had to stop having ready-made chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge, for instance. That is something I have an impossible time resisting (for now). Also, I can have an open bible on the counter…a reminder that God invites me to feast on Him instead of on food that I don’t need and that won’t fill the emptiness in my heart.
6. If I have gotten all the way to the point of eating it, I can still stop the wreck! Mid-bite, I can get up and throw it out! I have done this before…not often, I will admit. If I have allowed the chain of events to get this far, it is TOUGH for me to have the willingness to stop mid-sin. 🙁
I know that praying about all of this at other times of the day when I am not in the middle of it helps empower me when the temptation does come along. Praying that God will change my want to, or like David prayed in Psalm 51 that God would grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
I do believe this…that 2 Chronicles 16:9 says that the eyes of the Lord look throughout the earth for those whose hearts are fully committed to him. Even in the moment, if I call out, “Lord! I want YOUR will!,” if I am “fully committed” in THIS moment, then this same verse says that he will see my heart and he will strengthen me in this moment. THIS MOMENT MATTERS. I don’t want to minimize the moment. Our enemy loves it when we diminish the value of a moment.
So those are my “links” in my chain leading to an eating “wreck.” And the subsequent plan for breaking the chain at any point in time.
How about you? What series of mini-events might lead you to an eating wreck? What can you do to break the chain at any point in the series?
by Heidi Bylsma | Dec 6, 2008 | Blog
Often I get asked what made the difference for me…what, after all the years I had played with eating this way, writing with the Hallidays and working for the Thin Within company…what finally made things “click” for me so that I began experiencing victory in my eating.
One of the most vital things was covered in this lesson in The Lord’s Table workbook.
Life is not all about my problems, my desires, my weight, me at all. It is ALL about the Lord God!
When someone has gone through all the Thin Within workbooks (there are currently four of them), read the Thin Within book, read Thin Again (or the current title of the same book, Get Thin Stay Thin), and still is wondering “What now? What will CHANGE me? What can I read that will make me different?” my answer has to be it isn’t WHAT, it is who.
Our focus is so very often on ourselves.
God wants THIS time to be DIFFERENT. And so a different focus is required.
I have encouraged people who ask me how to make *this* time through the Thin Within materials (or I would say the same thing for those who go through The Lord’s Table again, too), to *this* time, instead of making it be about you, do as much as you can to learn about the Lord. For instance, if you are going through the Thin Within workbook, keep a log of all the attributes, characteristics and behaviors of God. Take time to get to know him.
The last time I went through the TW workbook (for the umpteenth time), I did this and here is a partial list just in the first couple of lessons:
– God invites me
– God has a plan, purpose, hope, and future planned
– God is faithful
– God does the impossible
– God embraces me
– God is doing a new thing
– God FINISHED the work on the cross
– God’s grace is immeasurable and steadfast
– He transforms me through His Word
– He grounds me through His Word
– He supplies power through the Holy Spirit
etc! There are so many, space doesn’t allow!
As I get to know HIM more and focus MORE on HIM, my wants, my desires, my “rights,” fade in significance. As I get to know Him, I discover so much about HIM and it floods my vision and my heart full! There is no emptiness, no “woe is me,” just exaltation of HIM and a humbling of self with appropriate quietness before the Lord.
This lesson of TLT is about this very thing…about looking upon the Lord and His attributes.
Course Member Cindy writes: “My view of God has been too low, and my view of myself has been too high. I can see that now. I have been prideful, I have thought that whatever I want to eat I deserve to eat. I have thought that I was so important that I deserve whatever I am craving. I see now that all this stems from an inadequate view of God, and of my relationship to Him. HE alone is great. HE alone is deserving of praise. HE is the important One…” (TLT, p. 82)
Application: This just happened to me. I did this lesson this morning and had been meaning to post about it when I got a spare moment today. But one demand upon another took priority. As I was sitting watching Caspian with my family tonight, I got a thought of something I wanted to eat. I found myself thinking about the food…what it would taste like, how *I* wanted it…and how *I* could justify it. Fortunately, I realized it…and chose to whisper a prayer (by the grace of God!), “Lord, please change my want to!” like Beth Moore mentioned in the Breaking Free tapings.
Then I began to fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of my faith. I suddenly realized that I could let the food I wanted go…I had no need for it. He *was* more than enough for me in the moment. I had to concentrate for a few moments on HIM, yes. If I had focused on “I can’t have that, I can’t have that…” I believe it would have backfired.
With the little strength I had, I breathed a prayer and God moved in! He made it happen! I focused on Him and the fact that He went to the cross so I wouldn’t be in bondage to sin. He was pierced for my sins…
I found that it is true…when I turn my eyes on Jesus and look full in his wonderful face, the things of earth really DO grow dim in the light of his glory and grace (just like I spouted off about the other day).
Thank you, Lord.
by Heidi Bylsma | Dec 5, 2008 | Blog
Today was a good eating day. I remained vigilant. The circumstances unfolded in a surprising way, but God wrapped his arms around me. Thank you for the prayers.
by Heidi Bylsma | Dec 4, 2008 | Blog
Funny how it is…the very thing I studied in the morning yesterday is what I needed desperately to apply by mid-day…but I acted clueless, reckless, and rebellious, instead.
This lesson on Vigilance that I did yesterday morning reminded me of the “Planning for Trials” exercise in the Thin Within book.
Thin Within or The Lord’s Table is not a diet. It isn’t about “getting fixed” or “getting thin” and then going back to the “real world” after 30 or 60 days or 6 weeks. This is about a heart change…a change from within. These kinds of changes take a lifetime!
It is about completely altering our reason for eating and our eating habits. (TLT, p. 77)
This lesson reminded me that if I think I have my act together and can just sort of coast along without a care in the world, it is important to take to heart the words of 1 Corinthians 10:12 which says, “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”
It is pretty easy to have a period of coasting along in my eating…and now that I have lost all the weight and kept it off to even think “Yup, I am changed for GOOD, all right!”
Then, reality check… I am reminded when I let my guard down how much work there is yet ahead inside.
This lesson encouraged me to think of some possible challenges that are ahead. I realized yesterday that today I would face a challenge and so prayed through and considered that and how I will plan for it that I might remain humbly vigilant and dependent on the Lord, not floundering when the emotions that are bound to come hit me.
So my battle plan for *today* was in place *yesterday*…but what about the day immediately in front of me yesterday? I was broadsided and NOT vigilant!
I am teaching my son to drive and I really harp on the need to be defensive in his driving–to plan not *if* someone veers into your lane, but WHEN. Not IF an animal will run into the road in front of you but WHEN. I tell him again and again to plan for that. When it is an animal, to tell yourself again and again you will NOT swerve as it is unlikely to be done safely on our roads. We live in the country…two lane roads, steep canyon cliffs down one side and mountain walls on the other. Animals in the road and motorists not paying attention (or worse) are going to happen. If you rehearse in your mind again and again the safest plan of action, it is more likely that you will DO it when the thing actually happens.
So I must “drive defensively” through this life. That is what vigilance is. It is anticipating not IF I will be drawn to food again, not IF my emotions will get the best of me, not IF I will have some “ain’t got it” moments (like my friend Julie says), but WHEN.
A proud person will not plan for these things, but will think they are beyond that.
Matthew 26:41 Jesus encourages the disciples to watch and pray. We must be vigilant and defensive…guarded and ready. But being aware of what may be ahead isn’t enough. I must rehearse in my mind a godly response and, above all, pray about these things as well.
The lesson asked “What are some specific areas of temptation that you need to be watchful of and pray about?”
How about you? How can you exercise more humble vigilance? What may face you today that you know you need to plan for so that you are not taken by surprise and dragged into disordered eating yet again?
I am praying about something that will happen early this morning and I hope to report back at the end of the day, that, yes, I was humbly vigilant and remained guarded and didn’t allow myself to stomp all over godly boundaries of 0 – 5 eating that the Lord has directed me to have. When I eat today, I want it to be for nourishment, not out of frustration, sadness, or confusion.
I would welcome your prayers!
by Heidi Bylsma | Dec 2, 2008 | Blog
As has been mentioned throughout the workbook so far, as is mentioned in Thin Within and the Hallidays’ other book, Get Thin Stay Thin (also known as Thin Again), we have a deep thirst within us…a soul thirst. Much of our lives are spent searching for “fountains” or sources to slake the thirst.
This lesson exposes the tendency we have to go to food or anything other than Christ to satisfy the thirst of our hearts.
This lesson calls us to rise up and commit to going no where else to drink, but Christ. In my own life, I know that I have turned to my horses to find some sort of satisfaction, peace, and joy…delight. Even looking to my family to provide that deep joy…well, Christ alone is to be the water from which I drink to meet those deep needs in my heart.
Approval of others, recognition, being “The Thin Within Lady…” none of these things are to be where I look for SOUL satisfaction.
Christ alone is to provide that for me.
The author makes an important distinction:
Drinking implies taking something into your system and receiving nourishment and sustenance from it. I can read that Jesus is the Bread of Life and not feed on Him, or that He is Living Water but still not drink of Him. Feeding and drinking are directly related to the application of Scripture in my life, and it is much more than mere reading. Mere reading of Scripture would be like reading the nutritional contents of a package of food; it does no good to the body until it is eaten and digested. When you read the Scripture, ask God to apply it to your heart and to change your life by the reading of it. This is what it means to drink the Living Water. (TLT, p. 74)
As I go through life, I make a choice–there are many fountains I might be tempted to look to for satisfaction of my heart thirst. Hobbies can be a “false fountain,” food, numbing out with a movie or internet stuff (even hanging out on the Thin Within forums!)…but I am to be resolved, committed, determined to look to nothing or no one else other than Jesus for the quenching of my soul thirst.
by Heidi Bylsma | Dec 1, 2008 | Blog
The primary text for this lesson is found in Romans 12:1-2:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For me, this lesson summarizes the very reason why I chose to do The Lord’s Table workbook at this time.
If I change my eating habits (which I have), if I lose all the extra weight (which I have), but am not transformed from the INSIDE out, then the changes will be temporary at best and not the type of change that matters most. What matters MOST is my heart. This isn’t about my food or weight. I see no place in scripture where God says “Thou shalt not weigh 185 pounds…or 250 pounds.” I DO see many scriptures about my heart, surrender, not being greedy or idolatrous…THESE are the things that I want to be sure I deal with by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.
I choose this day to offer my body to God, yes…I will be a living sacrifice. But not just my body, but my mind. Therefore, I will not minimize a choice in the moment. I will agree with God that this moment matters as in this moment, I can make a choice. That choice can add another layer of hard callus tissue to my heart, or it can soften my heart. In a moment, I can do something that matters that much.
Every moment matters. I will choose to allow the Lord to renew my mind and transform me from within.
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 30, 2008 | Blog
The primary text for today’s lesson was Numbers 21:4-9. The author did an amazing job illuminating how this passage can relate to our desire to overcome sinful eating habits and experience victory in our lives. He used many other passages as well and then summarized as follows:
So to summarize the passages we have read today, we are to look to Jesus to save us, to eradicate sin in our lives, to strengthen us for the battle, to defeat all our enemies, to release us from the trap of sin, to restore us and give us grace, to enable us to be victorious. See why focusing on Christ is so important? (TLT, p. 70)
I have mentioned in previous entries that I had gotten things backwards…that I was waiting until the temptation comes to think that I am to cling to Christ. Truthfully, clinging to and feasting on Christ is to be a way of life, permeating the moments of each day.
BUT, this lesson brought home to my heart the fact that in the moment, when temptation is ever before me, this IS, indeed, a moment to FOCUS on him as well.
Just last night, I wish I had applied these truths. I was watching a movie with the family–we had enjoyed a wonderful time together all day and were winding down before bed. I had a thought of leftover apple pie, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. I wasn’t hungry. I just wanted it. I battled with the temptation for a while. But I kept trying to pull my thoughts off of the ice cream. There it is again…that old “Do NOT think about a pink elephant” syndrome! (Try it…right now…do NOT think of a pink elephant…and what do you think of? :-))
So the more I tried NOT to think about the pie that I wanted to eat, the more I thought about it. Until, sadly, I gave in!
This lesson today reminded me (you would think I wouldn’t need so many reminders!!!) that I was focusing on the strength of the army against me…on the temptation, on the sinful option if you will. My vision was filled with what I was NOT to go after.
What I should have done in the moment is focus on Christ. Look up and see the serpent on the pole…Jesus took on all my sin and shame. The perfect, blameless son of God, the Glory of Heaven who became man, who knew no sin became sin for me so that in Him I might become the righteousness of God. Like the Israelites in the passage from Numbers, had I chosen to look on Christ, to focus on HIM, the author and perfector of my faith, I know that the lure of the pie would have diminished. Instead I tried NOT to think of the pie.
See the difference?
On the cross, Jesus took the lethal bite of the serpent, became sin and died for us. As we are looking at Him to cure us, over time we will discover that overeating loses it’s appeal and we are cured. (TLT, p. 68)
So while it is true that I want to feast on the Lord, His Word and pray throughout the moments of my life–not just wait until I am tempted–it is also true that when I *am* tempted, I MUST choose to focus not on trying NOT to sin, but on the Lord, on Jesus. As I focus on HIM, the appeal of sin will diminish.
Lord, please help me to be willing to have you change me in the moment. Change my “want to” so that in the moment I *want* to think on you and be transformed. Take my moments Lord…and be Lord in the moments today. When I am tempted, please help me not to try to grit my teeth and garner up the will-power not to sin, but, instead, cause me to fix my eyes on you. Thank you, Lord. Amen.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
Then the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace.
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 29, 2008 | Blog
If you are evaluating whether or not to get The Lord’s Table workbook, then I hope you won’t allow my descriptions to stand in the way! They really fall far short of the real thing. There is something so powerful about sitting down with the Word, a journal, a pen, a workbook and allowing God to move in your heart personally. These daily summaries are woefully inadequate in effectively stating what God can do through this material.
Today’s lesson raised the question about why, when God was preparing to take the Israelites out of Egypt…why did they have to eat the Passover Lamb while they had their sandals on, staff in hand and their loins girded (Exodus 12:11)…while they were ready to head out? What was the significance of this and is there a modern day lesson to glean from this?
Truly, it was like the Lord ordered them to have a feast, but simultaneously ordered them to pack up the car and to have the engines running as they ate! So what was up with this? It definitely sounds counter to “conscious eating!” 🙂
Mike Cleveland does an excellent job of pointing out that the way OUT of slavery first comes by partaking of, ingesting in, feasting on THE LAMB OF GOD. This is the heart of The Lord’s Table message. As we take our hunger to the Lord, to Jesus, to His Word and truly allow HIM to satisfy and sustain us…as we put THAT in our lives as FIRST priority, eclipsing all others…we are taking the first steps out of our slavery. The way out of our slavery to sinful eating habits and a heart that is locked on to food is to feast on what will really nourish us…the Lord Himself.
The Israelites literally ate their way out of slavery! And so can we! This is the message that is taught to us today: When we feed on the Passover Lamb we will leave slavery. Amazing how we can win the battle of overeating, by eating! (TLT, p. 65)
There is a way out of slavery to sinful habits! It is through feeding on Jesus Christ. As we become full of Him, through meditating on the Bible and living it out, we will discover our freedom. Freedom follows fullness. (TLT, p. 65)
I think for a long while I have had this backwards. It is like I think…well, when I am tempted, I will feast on the Lord. The truth is, I must LIVE feasting on him. I must partake of him constantly. Then, the temptations won’t be as strong. Controlling my food intake just makes me fixate on the food all the more. If I place those energies on turning to GOD, I sort of think that I will be heading on out in that moment…out of that place of temptation, out of the moment of struggle with indiscretion and blatant sin.
…correct eating habits and honoring the Lord with our bodies are by-products of “feeding” on Jesus Christ through thinking on, meditating on, and acting on Scripture. (TLT, p. 65)
After establishing this in the lesson, the author offered numerous passages for contemplation and response. The passages focused on Christ’s sufficiency to be our sastifaction. This is what we really YEARN for! This is what we really want. HIM! We take HIM in, we chew on and digest HIM, when we sit still for a bit and read and ponder and pray over His Word. I know this is true in my own experience.
Yesterday was a difficult day. Nothing earth shattering compared to what normal people experience. I tend to lead a very sheltered life. I have very few trials that have faced me in my adult life. In fact, I have this attitude of expectancy…that something horrible is going to happen. 🙁 Not a good thing. But when it comes to trials, it doesn’t take much for me to think I am suffering. Yesterday was one of those days when I felt pushed emotionally (and because of circumstances, this is likely to continue today as well). Had I allowed myself to be drawn to the WORD, the BREAD of LIFE, the life-giving WATER, I am convinced that I would have never even thought about food. Instead, I was restless, agitated and had a couple of eating occasions where I ate outside of my boundaries. It wasn’t about the food. It was about my heart…I want to interpret my trials as a personal call–an invitation–from God to come and sit at His table–even before I even have a chance to consider sitting at the dining table (or standing at the counter) to eat physical food. I want to interpret unsettled emotions as God’s invitation to recline with him, to lean against his chest. To be still and KNOW he is God. To rest in His embrace. To quietly hear Him rejoice over me with singing…
Today, Lord, let this be.
