Laced With Grace

For the last couple of years, we have made a conscience effort at our home to eat in a healthy, balanced way.  Although we are BIG into treats,  and try never to become legalistic with our eating habits (can you say Coldstone’s???), we try to eat lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, and nuts as our staple foods.

When my husband and I took a trip to Miami last spring (can you say SWIMSUIT????), I was much more careful with what went into my mouth!  I ate only veggies, fruits, and nuts.  Everyday I had a fresh spinach salad full of  raw, sliced vegetables.  The salads were beautiful to look at and delicious to eat.  I got to the point that I didn’t even care for dressing- just a little lemon juice splashed on top.  The funny thing was, the more I ate these spinach salads, the more my body craved them.  Salads from restaurants, with iceberg lettuce, lots of cheese and loaded with heavy ranch dressing, usually my favorite menu item, became repulsive.

Another strange thing began to happen to my eating habits.  Normally an avid dessert eater, I avoided sugar until my trip.  And, the strange thing was, the longer I fasted from sugar, the less I craved it!  Saying “no” to sweets eventually became easy (definitely NOT normal for me!).

After a couple of months eating this way, I was so excited when our big trip finally arrived.  I thought I would have so much FUN eating all of the foods I had been “denying” myself.  Funny things was, when I finally DID eat the juicy steak, scrumptious cake, and all of the goodies, what I really was craving was my homemade spinach salad.

There were definite benefits when I changed my eating habits.

I lost a lot of weight!

I had so much ENERGY.

I felt GREAT!

My body, once purged of all the “bad” food wanted the “clean” food.  It craved the healthy food.  Once I had gotten rid of all the “junk” food from my diet, I no longer wanted it.  My body was functioning GREAT.

But, then…..Father’s Day arrived and with it, a new grill for my husband.  It was a new “toy” and Brian starting cooking on it DAILY.

We immediately became CARNIVORES….eating LOTS of meat- hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs…..  And, for some reason, chip and dip, breads, and desserts just seemed to go so well with the meat.  Even though I continued to prepare the salad, we began eating less and less of it.

After a few weeks of eating this way, I began noticing a few things.

I was CRAVING sugar again.

I was feeling tired and cranky at times.

I gained back weight!

This didn’t happen immediately, but little by little.  But, before I knew it, I really didn’t “want” the salad any longer.  It just didn’t “look” good anymore.  I really just wanted to eat chip and dip and brownies!  The more I gave in to the cravings, the more I craved the junk.

Interestingly, the same thing was happening to me spiritually.

I had been getting up and spending time with God.  My mind was being renewed and His Living Water was refreshing my soul.  I was CRAVING God, wanting more and more of Him and desiring to spend my time with Him.

But, little by little, I began choosing “junk”.  I overslept in the mornings, making for just “snippets” of quiet time with God, not really quality chunks of time alone with Him.  We were traveling often and missing church weeks at a time.  I wasn’t keeping up with my Bible Study.  Before long, I found it easier to turn on the TV and “veg out” instead of spending time with God.  Picking up a magazine, flipping through and reading it seemed “more fun” than reading my Bible.  Just like junk food became easier to choose, junk “activity” became easier to do.  I began filling up on the “world”, instead of drinking in the life-giving Presence of God!

And, after a few weeks of living this way, I began noticing a few things.

My soul felt downcast.

I was cranky.

My mouth “got me into trouble,” and I don’t mean with eating!

But, most of all, I just felt “off”……something was wrong.

I missed God!

And, for some reason, it seems harder, both with eating and spiritually, to “get back on track” then to “fall off the wagon”!  But, thankfully, God is  patient, loving, merciful, and forgiving!  He LONGS for us to come back and drink Him in!  He misses us even more than we miss Him.  All we need to do is turn to Him and tell Him we need Him.  He waits with arms open wide.

“O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You.  My soul thirst for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water……Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You….My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You.”  Psalm 63:1-5

¹³ For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.  Psalm 139:13-18 (NKJV)

The other evening I was scanning the channels on our TV to see if there was anything interesting to watch.   I suddenly stopped scanning when a show caught my eye.  I heard part of a conversation of two young ladies.  One of the young ladies told the other that for her birthday she was going to buy her breast implants because – “ It will make her feel better about herself and bring her more confidence.”   The other girl squealed in total excitement, “My life will be so much better!”

How sad is that?  To think that changing one’s appearance in hope that it will make one feel better as well as her life will be much better!   It’s so disturbing to think that thousands of young ladies might have heard this conversation and wonder if they changed something about themselves that it will make their life better.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong about changing your appearance especially if one is overweight and needs to lose a few pounds or more.  We all know that being overweight is hard on our bodies and not healthy.   What disturbed me was that they believe changing oneself on the outside would make life better for them.  I don’t fault these young ladies at all – let’s face it – we see these messages all the time on TV, movies, magazines etc….   If you are skinny enough, cute enough, tall enough, and rich enough, etc… you will be popular and successful in life.  They do not understand that one can change everything external about them but if they do not make the right changes within themselves it will all be totally superficial!

How heartrending that they do not realize that God made them and loves them just the way He created them.  Too many people think that if they change the outside it is what they need when actually it’s the inside – their heart – that needs to be changed – to be right with the Lord!

³ Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
⁴ When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.
⁵ But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.   Psalm 146:3-5 (NLT)

Dear Lord may we as mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and friends teach our young girls the meaning of true beauty and true happiness.  May we set an example for all young ladies we come in contact with each day.  May we not be so obsessed about our “outside” shell that we too send the wrong message to our young ladies.  May we be examples of true beauty – life in Christ.  In Jesus precious name, amen.

The jagged coastline of Massachusetts claimed many ships during the early years of our country making it necessary to build lighthouses, beacons to lead ships to safe passage. One area in particular off the coast of Chatham, MA was particularly treacherous, so in 1808 they built a twin lighthouse, plus 2 additional towers – floating lighthouses on wooden skids – that could be moved as the channel shifted. In order to have safe passage into the harbour, all four lights had to line up and appear as one. If ships could not line up the lights, they were in danger of being dashed on the rocks.

Knowing God’s will is much the same way. Over the years I have learned there are four ways He speaks to me that need to line up, otherwise I run the risk of running aground.

First, He uses His Word. It serves as the plumb line for all the other lights. I need to search the Scriptures and ask myself if God says this as a command in His word, or is it in line with the principles He has set forth in His Word. (Psalm 119:9-11, 105)

According to 2 Timothy 3:16,17 He uses His Word to tell me what to believe, to correct what I am believing wrong and what I am doing wrong, and He also tells me what I am doing right.

The second lighthouse that needs to line up is Others. God speaks through other people and what they say to me or how they counsel me. Of course they must be in line with what God says. In 2 Chronicles 20:3-20 God spoke through Jahaziel to answer the cries of the people. They were in a desperate situation. By all circumstances, they were about to be slaughtered and defeated by the enemy. But God used Jahaziel to remind them the battle is the Lord’s. Take a look and read this passage when you have a moment. It’s one of my favorites.

The next lighthouse that needs to line up is God’s Spirit. He will give me reoccurring thoughts, peace or unrest. I must be very careful with this one because I have my own thoughts and the liar can give lying thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5). In Acts 8:20 the Holy Spirit told Philip what to do. And in Acts 16:6,7 the Spirit also tells me what not to do. Galatians 5:18 clearly tells me I am to be led by the Spirit.

The fourth lighthouse that needs to line up is Circumstances. This refers to the doors God is opening or closing, not those I am forcing open. In Genesis 37:23-28 God used circumstances to take Joseph to Egypt because it was His will. He had a purpose for him to be there.

The waters of life are difficult to navigate on our own. They can produce fear and anxiety with every swell. I may think I can get through this on my own, but sooner or later I will be dashed against the jagged rocks, my life shattered and in pieces if I don’t keep my eyes focused on the lighthouses God has placed in my life to guide me safely home.

Thank You, Lord for the ways in which You make Your will known to me. Teach me to know the path of life. Show me through Your Word, the wise counsel of others, Your Holy Spirit and the circumstances that surround me what Your will is for my life. Help me align myself with your will so these 4 lighthouses line up as one to lead me in Your perfect will.