Laced With Grace

It’s happening. I turned 50 on my last birthday and now my memory is slipping. I forget what I’ve told to which family member and can’t remember where I laid my cell phone.

It’s happening. I turned 50 on my last birthday and now my memory is slipping. See there!

All kidding aside, my memory really isn’t what it used to be. When I was in my thirties I didn’t even use a calendar. I simply remembered events, birthdays, places, and times.

Forgetting the time of my dentist appointment is a small thing. I can handle that easily with the calendar and alarm on my cell phone (if I can remember where I left it). But I also tend to forget the activity and blessings of God in my life. Recently, a Jewish patriarch reminded me of this spiritual short-coming.

In Genesis chapter 12, we read how Abram and his wife, Sarai left Canaan for Egypt to escape a severe famine. You may know the story. Because of Sarai’s beauty, Abram asked her to pretend to be his sister. Abram didn’t want any lustful Egyptian to kill him for his gorgeous spouse.

Well, Pharaoh himself spotted Sarai and took her into his house. Thankfully God intervened. He put a stop to all the shenanigans by bringing “great plagues” on Pharaoh and his house. When Pharaoh discovered the deception he returned Abram’s wife and sent them safely on their way.

Abram had failed to trust God with the situation, but still God protected them. I’m sure Abram took note of God’s loving and powerful activity on their behalf.

Fast forward twenty years or so. Abram and Sarai are now “Abraham” and Sarah.” Guess what happened when Abraham and his nomadic family moved close to King Abimelech. Afraid of the powerful ruler, Abraham once again fabricated a tale to protect himself. And although this lie was technically a half-truth (Sarah was his half-sister, Genesis 20:12), Abraham’s actions reveal two things. First, he did not trust God to work in the situation and second, he had a short memory regarding God’s previous activity in his life.

I find it quite easy to point out spiritual flaws in biblical characters so Abraham’s story generated quick criticism. “How could Abraham fall again to the same temptation? God protected him before!”

But then God reminded me that He preserved this record as an example for me. I should learn from Abraham’s story. So, I must confess: I also have spiritual memory loss. I tend to forget the wonderful works of God in my life. I don’t remember all His incredible blessings. If I did, I would live differently today. I would trust Him more. I would rest more fully in His provision.

What about you? Do you remember or like me, do you have spiritual memory loss? What are some ways we can remember what God has done so we don’t make the same mistakes again?

Last week we came across an interesting documentary on the LIFETIME channel that followed the story of an overweight woman. Now, when I say overweight, I am not meaning by 10 or 20 pounds. This particular woman weighed in at 650 pounds! For most of us we think an additional 10-20 pounds weighs us down, but can you imagine what life would be like for such a person weighing over 600 pounds?

This woman was just like most of us. She made her home with her husband. She had dreams. She had plans. She had God-given abilities. But unlike you and me, she was a prisoner in her own home. She was completely and totally dependent on her husband and others to be her caretaker. She could not get up out of the bed by herself. She could not go outside. She could not bear children. She could not get a job.  She was totally incapacitated by her excess weight.

Her story unraveled as we continued to watch this program. The first step to her weight reduction was  having a gastric bypass which was followed by a couple more surgeries, as she shed weight, to remove excess skin. In one surgery, removing the excess skin took off over 60 pounds! We were able to follow her story for a period of over 6 years and were absolutely amazed that in the end she got down to 190 pounds!

Shedding 460 pounds is amazing by itself. But what truly amazed me was the difference the weight loss made in this woman’s life. No longer did she need help in daily activities, and one of the greatest thrills for her was stepping outside for the first time by herself. She finally could make some of her dreams come true. She not only could walk outside now, but she could mow the yard. She finally had a baby. And she got a job, working for the same surgeon who helped her. She now was helping and motivating others that were just like she once was.

Truly a remarkable story.

Some of you may ask the same question that many of us would ask…how does a person get that overweight in the first place? I don’t know the answer to that but I would guess it has something to do with slow fade. After the first couple hundred of pounds, it doesn’t get noticeable until one day it is just too much!

I don’t really see much difference in her story and the story of the one who refuses to unload their burdens to the Lord. I hear so many Christians talk about how stressed they are or how they worry about everything. All you have to do is scroll down your news feed on your facebook account to see that Christians and unbelievers alike carry so much excess weight on their shoulders.

Job security. Finances. Relationship problems. Sickness. Death. Unemployment. Divorce. Loneliness. Depression. Anxiety.

It almost seems like one leads to another. If each burden weighed in at 100 pounds, can you see how easily it would be to gain an excess 400 pounds?

If you struggle with holding onto your burdens, you may be experiencing some problems that go along with weight gain. When we carry too much weight on our shoulders, we become isolated, imprisoned and not able to do all that God has called us to do. But like the woman in the documentary, we need to do whatever it takes to shed some weight …

” …lay aside every weight that so easily besets us.” HEBREWS 12:1

Think about what the writer of Hebrews is saying…”lay aside” or in other words, “put down” or “get rid of”. If only we I could learn that when I pick my burdens back up, it is only weighing me down. Today is a good day to allow God to take control of our weight issues…

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for the promise that You would never leave me nor forsake me. Help me to trust You in everything. In good times and bad. In difficulty, I pray that I would turn my burdens over to You. I am weak but You are strong. You can carry the weight easier than me, I ask You now to remove this excess weight that binds me. In Your name, AMEN.

PSALM 55:22 “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

You can visit my blog for more daily devotions … http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com

Reagan cracked her ipod touch yesterday.

She was roller-blading and decided to sit for a rest. The only problem was that her tush was not enough cushion between the pavement and the force of her weight, so the ipod in her back pocket looks like a bulls eye that took a bullet. Her first thought was, Dad’s gonna kill me! Her anxiety rising, she yelled at Autumn, her friend, whose only offense was being present. She then rushed home, fleeing the scene, and tearfully sought my comfort. She had shattered her ipod, a friendship, and her Daddy’s trust. This girl was in trouble, and she knew it. But she also knew where to turn to to confess and find comfort.

Israel came to mind because some things never change. They had fled Egypt as fast as Moses could lead them, and they ran right into a dead end. Israel’s dream of freedom and rescue got squeezed between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s approaching army. It shattered their faith.

As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:10-12, NAS)

Do you find it interesting that they cried out to the Lord and then said to Moses…? They took their fear and frustration out on their friend because he was there. He was also a safer target than God. What they said reveals their hearts. They regretted having left at all. They wanted to go back. Israel feared and wanted to run home.

Moses advised them, “Fear not. Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord.” Moses, too, was pressed between two opposing forces: God’s will and Israel’s will. But he did not crack under pressure — he bent to both a little bit. He reassured Israel with, “…[the Lord] will accomplish [salvation] for you today.” The next verse (15) tells us he was crying out to God the whole time. What a great leader Moses is. When the people are in distress, he comforts them, but all the while, pleads their case silently before the Lord.

And just when you think you might have done the heroic thing by standing silent before the Lord in the midst of your fear, God says, “Go forward.” We might be able to muster the strength to stand in the face of our fears, but going forward always takes faith.

Israel took a step into the sea that was sure to be their ruin. That’s when God changed their geography. He cushioned their footfall with a firm foundation that miraculously rose up out of the sea to meet their timid faith.

Even when they regretted their choice, feared their circumstances, and wished to go back. God’s grace rose up anyway, to meet the weight of their next step into the Red Sea until they were safely on the other side.

Intact. Unshattered.

It may not have happened that way for Reagan’s ipod, but it always will when God’s people fall on his grace.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. ~2 Corinthians 4:8 (NLT)