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

Then all of a sudden in my email I received hope. I was so excited all my issues were being addressed.

Seen a picture of yourself and been surprised at how you look? Yes! Watched yourself on video and realized you really do look bigger than in person. Yes. Tired of trying and failing. Kinda I hadn’t tried too hard but still.

Shapewear can change all of that! Shapewear is “designed to hold a part of the body in a particular form”. Sounding good so far. Prices are reasonable and what could it hurt to try? I marched myself over to TG Maxx. I wore a shirt that I had noticed the dreaded muffin top in and a pair of jeans that bordered on too tight. I tried the Shapewear on and it worked!!

My waist looked smaller, my jeans zipped just perfect all for the reasonable price of $24.99. I walked out feeling happy!

I didn’t buy it to wear every day, just on those occasions where I might need a little extra help. Two weeks went by. Two weeks where I didn’t worry about what I was eating, I didn’t even let the thought cross my mind that water would be a better choice than coke. No need to walk, I now owned Shapewear!

I started telling friends, you need to get this, it is wonderful!

During the two weeks, I never put the thing on. Remember, it’s for “special occasions”. Sunday night comes, which was a special occasion. As I’m putting it on, I started thinking “this is harder to put on than I remember”.

Walking out the door my waist was smoother but I didn’t quite feel right. The top of the crazy thing was like acting weird. You know cutting into my shoulders and instead of a muffin top I had something going on in other places.

When I got home, I finally had to admit I had out grown my Shapewear. It was still doing the job, shaping my waist but all the “extra” was being moved somewhere else…and was as noticeable as the initial trouble. Now, I just had two areas to work with.

I’m ashamed to say my first thought was…”wonder if they have a full body one”.

I was sharing this with my friend, Laura yesterday, and after she quit laughing, she made a great connection. We do the same thing with sin in our lives. I started thinking about how many times God had shown me an area that was sin. Sometimes, it seems easier to try to shape the area instead of dealing with it.

Doesn’t quite work does it?

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:15

Dealing with our stuff is hard work but it’s got to be better than Shapewear!

A few days ago, I went to see my friend Rose in the hospital. After months of health problems, I heard she’d suffered a seizure and was heavily medicated. I had no idea that she’d be unrecognizable. I went into her room and promptly came out thinking they’d given me the wrong room card. The patient I saw looked like a child-size emaciated refugee from Auschwitz, nothing like the Rose I knew. Three times I came out and three times the nurses assured me that the patient was indeed Rose.

So I went in again and starting talking to Rose. She shifted toward me. I talked some more. Her hand opened and I clasped it in mine. And then she spoke. Not words, just some sounds. But I knew. The voice was unmistakable. Rose’s distinctive husky voice.

I stayed a while, praying and sharing Scripture with her. It soothed both of us.

At first glance (and second and third glance), all I saw was a twisted knobby skeletal frame. But when I heard her voice, I knew that sweet, gentle Rose was inside the thorny brambles.

It’s like that with life sometimes.

I see the briars, the thorns, the brambles. I see a dark complex maze of problems and issues. And then, in the midst of it all, I’ll hear God’s unmistakable voice. I’ll sense Him in the midst of it all. And it soothes me. Then I can see past the mess to the message inside.

I’m so grateful for His presence in ALL things. No matter how difficult things appear, He’s there.

I pray you aren’t going through a thorny time right now. But if you are, be assured. He knows, He cares, and He wants to speak to you in the midst of it all. These are the times that grow our faith, when we can’t see for ourselves and so must trust.  Listen for that gentle voice and let Him lead you through.

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Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  2 Cor. 4:16-18

Much love,

Susan

Ps – I saw my dear Rose today. She’s making some progress. She was able to briefly communicate coherently today and even joked. With a smile and chuckle, she said,“The Lord’s been good to me. I must have done something right.” As you read this or sometime during your day, would you pray for Rose? There are a myriad of issues, health-wise and otherwise, that need divine intervention. Thank you!