Week
4 Obey and Submit
Day 26
That
Slender Cord of Willfulness
You are putting forth the wrong kind of
effort. You aren’t working hard to conform yourself to God’s plan, you are attempting to
arrive at His outcome by another path, a path of your own making.
~~~
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he addiction that must be broken in order for God to have
His way in our lives is not love for food, but the strength of our desire to
have our own way. We feel determined to keep at least some rights; at the very
least, we want to reserve the freedom to choose what we eat and when we will
eat it. This is the sin the Israelites committed when they demanded meat rather
than the manna God had given. The Lord provided them quail, but then made them
eat it until it came out their noses. [i]
We desperately want to make
ourselves right in our own strength, and thus we hope to reserve for ourselves
the credit for anticipated weight loss. We dream of being told how wonderful we
look, envisioning a deprecatory smile and perhaps a modest comment of how it
certainly was a lot of work. Maybe we will even say, “Well, the Lord helped
me.” We bargain with God and tell Him we will give Him the glory if only He
lets us have what we want.
I had a specific number I wanted to
see on the scale and cherished a vision of a stronger, more youthful version of
myself, but this is not the vision the Lord wanted me to have; He must fill all
our vision if He is to assume His rightful place in our lives. In response to
my whining complaint that I had to have goals in mind if I was ever going to
lose weight, it was as though the Lord replied, “Plan to abide. Plan to obey. Plan to abstain from influences not of
Me. But don't plan how you are going to obey, or your goals for your day
will take preeminence over Mine.”
The problem with a plan of our own making is that in the midst of a busy
and stressful day we feel free to depart from our self-made rules as whim or
perceived need strikes (I’m feeling hungry right now and can’t concentrate, and
so I’ll just have a snack now and start my diet tomorrow…”). If we create our
own blueprint, then it is ok for us to edit the plan. When we have submitted
our will to God’s, we certainly do not have freedom to edit His direction, and
there’s the rub.
We try so hard to make ourselves right in our own strength, and God waits
patiently as we fail and fail again. Blessedly, we don't have to cut the
stubborn strands of disobedience ourselves, because the Lord has purchased our
freedom from sin. The warmth of His great love melts resistance to His
rule in our lives. It always comes back to abiding in that great
love.
Pray: Lord, forgive me for clinging
to my right to eat what I want when I want; I have no rights but those You have
allowed. Forgive me for trying to find a path other than Your path to take me
to the outcomes You desire for me; I can go no place You’ve not ordained. I
release to You the number on the scale. I release to You how much I eat and
when. Teach me to abide in Your love as I submit my plans for my days to You.
Amen.
~~~
How
foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you
now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so
much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
I
ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you
because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message
you heard about Christ.
Galatians 3:3-5 NLT
For
sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under
grace.
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