Happy Monday sisters... we dicussed this last week... now tell me what you think about how this chapter for my healthy eating book is developing. Thank you for your insights!
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A big, huge piece of bakery deliciousness sat in front of me.
It was a combination of three different desserts in one. One layer was cheesecake, one layer was ice cream cake, and in between both of those was a layer of brownie like chocolate cake... all drizzled with some kind of fudge icing that was literally calling my name.
This was served to me this summer while Art and I were on a special romantic vacation. It was at the beginning of my no sugar adventure. I'd been doing great at home but sitting there that night was tough.
I'd been dropped into a place that was teaming with bakery things my mind could not even conceive with my husband who could eat a pound of sugar a day and still look fit and trim.
I didn't want Art to miss out so I told him to please enjoy- "I'm fine."
But inside a totally different dialog was playing in my mind- "It's not fair!"
In that instant, I squirmed in my chair and thought, "I'll just take one little bite... maybe two... I've been so good... this is vacation... everyone else is indulging...OH MY STARS WHAT ARE YOU DOING LYSA!"
The sugar was like a siren of mythical tales, luring the ships over to rocky coves that would inevitably dash and destroy them. The seduction was smooth and seemingly innocent. But in that moment of temptation, I realized me having a pity party was a clue I was relying on my own strength- A strength that has failed me before and would fail me again.
I had to grab hold of God's strength and the only way to do that was to invite his power into this situation. I mentally gave God control of the situation by reciting the go to script I'd been using at home when tempted, “I am made for more. I am made for victory.”
Then I quoted pieces and parts of Scriptures I’ve tied to this go to script and banked up in my heart. "I'm more than a conqueror." "With God all things are possible." "Let the peace of God reign in your heart." "Lead us not into temptation but DELIVER us from the evil one..."
The problem is, Satan hit me with a twist leaving me vulnerable and shaky, “But this is a special time Lysa. And special times deserve an exception to your normal parameters. It’s not fair that you have to sacrifice. Look around you. No one else is sacrificing right now.”
Poor me. This isn’t fair. I’ve lived with this struggle for so long. This is a special time. I could just give in this once. Everyone else is doing it.
It’s at this exact point where the dieter indulges. The virgin sleeps with her prom date. The girl on a debt reduction plan pulls her credit card back out. The alcoholic skips AA and heads off to the bar instead.
We may know we are made for more but somehow Satan has dissipated this truth with the justification of, “special times deserve special exceptions and anything else just isn’t fair.”
I needed a go to script for this situation.
So, I lowered my head and prayed, “God my I am at the end of my strength here. This is the moment I’ve got to sense your strength stepping in. The Bible says, your power is made perfect in weakness. This would be a really good time for that truth to be my reality. Help me see something else besides this temptation looming so large in front of me it seems impossible to escape.”
Suddenly a memory flashed across the screen of my mind. I was sitting on my back deck with my teenage son and his girlfriend having a deeply honest and gut wrenching conversation with them. They had gotten into a bad situation and allowed things to go too far physically. While not every boundary line was crossed, enough had to scare them both. My advice to them was to think beyond the moment. Say out loud, “this feels good now, but how will I feel about this in the morning?"
The morning will always come and shed light on the consequences of our choices from the night before.
That was it. I was challenged by the words and expectation I had placed on my son while not realizing how this same advice could be so powerful if applied to my area of struggle. I had my next go to script and as I recited it, God’s power filled in the gap of my weakness.
Soon, it was time for us to get up from the dinner table. I pushed my chair back, left my dessert untouched on the table, and walked back to our room. And I've never felt so empowered in my life.
Had I said yes to that one bite, that first night of our vacation, there would have been more compromises. Compromise built upon compromise equals failure. Instead, resisting temptation allowed promise upon promise to be built up in my heart which equals empowerment.
One day, I will be empowered enough to take a couple of bites and walk away... but that day isn't now.
I don't know what you might be struggling with today but I can assure you... God is fair and just.
There is a good reason we must face this. Our struggle to say no may be painful in the moment but it is working out something magnificent within us.
Christmas can be a struggle for people needing to make sacrifices because just like vacation- it's a special time. Too many of us use this as a time to throw caution to the wind and indulge thinking we'll just do better in January. But think of how much better we'll feel if we don't compound the issues we'll be facing in January.
Think of how much better January will be if we don't have an extra 5 pounds to deal with. Or $500 of debt. Or an extra load of guilt from other choices we made during Christmas.
Yes, it is a special time. And I'm not saying we shouldn't make it special. But for me, my special has to be found in things that don't involve sugar this year. And strangely enough, I'm finally starting to be good with that. God's power has proven to be the perfect match for my weakness. And what a special gift of discovery that is!
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, “But he [Jesus] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NIV).”
________________________________________________________
A big, huge piece of bakery deliciousness sat in front of me.
It was a combination of three different desserts in one. One layer was cheesecake, one layer was ice cream cake, and in between both of those was a layer of brownie like chocolate cake... all drizzled with some kind of fudge icing that was literally calling my name.
This was served to me this summer while Art and I were on a special romantic vacation. It was at the beginning of my no sugar adventure. I'd been doing great at home but sitting there that night was tough.
I'd been dropped into a place that was teaming with bakery things my mind could not even conceive with my husband who could eat a pound of sugar a day and still look fit and trim.
I didn't want Art to miss out so I told him to please enjoy- "I'm fine."
But inside a totally different dialog was playing in my mind- "It's not fair!"
In that instant, I squirmed in my chair and thought, "I'll just take one little bite... maybe two... I've been so good... this is vacation... everyone else is indulging...OH MY STARS WHAT ARE YOU DOING LYSA!"
The sugar was like a siren of mythical tales, luring the ships over to rocky coves that would inevitably dash and destroy them. The seduction was smooth and seemingly innocent. But in that moment of temptation, I realized me having a pity party was a clue I was relying on my own strength- A strength that has failed me before and would fail me again.
I had to grab hold of God's strength and the only way to do that was to invite his power into this situation. I mentally gave God control of the situation by reciting the go to script I'd been using at home when tempted, “I am made for more. I am made for victory.”
Then I quoted pieces and parts of Scriptures I’ve tied to this go to script and banked up in my heart. "I'm more than a conqueror." "With God all things are possible." "Let the peace of God reign in your heart." "Lead us not into temptation but DELIVER us from the evil one..."
The problem is, Satan hit me with a twist leaving me vulnerable and shaky, “But this is a special time Lysa. And special times deserve an exception to your normal parameters. It’s not fair that you have to sacrifice. Look around you. No one else is sacrificing right now.”
Poor me. This isn’t fair. I’ve lived with this struggle for so long. This is a special time. I could just give in this once. Everyone else is doing it.
It’s at this exact point where the dieter indulges. The virgin sleeps with her prom date. The girl on a debt reduction plan pulls her credit card back out. The alcoholic skips AA and heads off to the bar instead.
We may know we are made for more but somehow Satan has dissipated this truth with the justification of, “special times deserve special exceptions and anything else just isn’t fair.”
I needed a go to script for this situation.
So, I lowered my head and prayed, “God my I am at the end of my strength here. This is the moment I’ve got to sense your strength stepping in. The Bible says, your power is made perfect in weakness. This would be a really good time for that truth to be my reality. Help me see something else besides this temptation looming so large in front of me it seems impossible to escape.”
Suddenly a memory flashed across the screen of my mind. I was sitting on my back deck with my teenage son and his girlfriend having a deeply honest and gut wrenching conversation with them. They had gotten into a bad situation and allowed things to go too far physically. While not every boundary line was crossed, enough had to scare them both. My advice to them was to think beyond the moment. Say out loud, “this feels good now, but how will I feel about this in the morning?"
The morning will always come and shed light on the consequences of our choices from the night before.
That was it. I was challenged by the words and expectation I had placed on my son while not realizing how this same advice could be so powerful if applied to my area of struggle. I had my next go to script and as I recited it, God’s power filled in the gap of my weakness.
Soon, it was time for us to get up from the dinner table. I pushed my chair back, left my dessert untouched on the table, and walked back to our room. And I've never felt so empowered in my life.
Had I said yes to that one bite, that first night of our vacation, there would have been more compromises. Compromise built upon compromise equals failure. Instead, resisting temptation allowed promise upon promise to be built up in my heart which equals empowerment.
One day, I will be empowered enough to take a couple of bites and walk away... but that day isn't now.
I don't know what you might be struggling with today but I can assure you... God is fair and just.
There is a good reason we must face this. Our struggle to say no may be painful in the moment but it is working out something magnificent within us.
Christmas can be a struggle for people needing to make sacrifices because just like vacation- it's a special time. Too many of us use this as a time to throw caution to the wind and indulge thinking we'll just do better in January. But think of how much better we'll feel if we don't compound the issues we'll be facing in January.
Think of how much better January will be if we don't have an extra 5 pounds to deal with. Or $500 of debt. Or an extra load of guilt from other choices we made during Christmas.
Yes, it is a special time. And I'm not saying we shouldn't make it special. But for me, my special has to be found in things that don't involve sugar this year. And strangely enough, I'm finally starting to be good with that. God's power has proven to be the perfect match for my weakness. And what a special gift of discovery that is!
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, “But he [Jesus] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NIV).”
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