Wishes of Skinny Hit a Wall of Obedience

I looked at the back of my friend as she and her family knelt at the alter to take communion. She had been going through some shapely transformations over the last few months. Now I had to think of something to distract me from being jealous of her new shape. “She is almost too skinny.”

Yes, I do get the serious irony of me judging my friend while she knelt at the altar, but this is not about that.

This is about how I wish I was skinny like my friend – and by wish I mean “genie in the bottle, poof” kind of wish. I know the way to get skinny, or at least to get healthy for my body design and shape. I just refuse to be consistent in doing what I know.

I want what I want and I still want to be skinny. I guess my wish is not so much about being skinny as it is about wanting to remain in my own habits and still get the benefit of change. I want to continue to do what I am doing but get the different results of that I was dreaming about that day. I am wishing that I would be able to do what I want to do without the consequences but also with the blessings that come from doing what I know I should do even though I am not doing it.

I want what I want and bless me anyway.

“If you obey the voice of god and if you do what He says with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength – THEN the Lord will free you and He will prosper you and he will tough and heal your heart – IF you will just obey the Lord and do what he says.” From Deuteronomy 30:2 – 8

If – then – if: if you obey, then you are blessed, if you obey. Obedience is the key (and partial obedience is complete disobedience). God does not bless on a curve. He does not bless those that choose to openly, and sometimes aggressively, live outside His will. Outside of His will, the riches are fleeting. The blessings inside His will are everlasting.

Tips for Living Obedient

1. Be honest with yourself. I will never be a professional runway model. I am five feet tall and over thirty. I have missed that boat. I can get down to my ideal weight. I can get into a shape that allows me to walk up a flight of stairs and still maintain a conversation. These are honest expectations and honest expectations nurture the actions that drive results.

2. Be honest with God. Talk to Him about the struggles and the trials. He already knows that I ate four cookies last night because they were there (and that I did not even like them all that much). He knows that I ate even though I was not hungry (and that my stomach hurt a little for my effort). If I will just be honest with Him then I can begin the process of understanding my actions. Understanding my actions starts the correction and change process. I find the Way because I am looking.

3. Be ready to engage change. I will never have different until I choose different. Different demands change. As long as I sit in the same spot doing the same thing then I will remain as I am. I have to move to get to where I want to be.

My actions determine my life. Walling in obedience to God elevates me to a place of promise. I get to choose: if – then – if. It is not complicated, but I have to choose complete obedience if I want to get there.

Are you struggling to get there? Please take a moment and share any tips you have discovered through your own journey to the if – then – if position.