“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 NIV)
How many times have you heard this scripture in a moment of difficulty or desperation? How many times have you shared this scripture with someone in a moment of needing to encourage them? How many times have you repeated it to yourself over as a quick line of encouragement when things seem desperate? I’ve heard and spoken that one verse for years. Thrown it out as a quick fix in the moment.
It’s very true… with God, anything is possible. Does it mean that if we pray and are diligent in our daily lives that God will make everything happen? I’ve tended to lean on this verse with that idea in mind. When things have not gone my way, then I move into my rationalization mode of “why.” He must have something better.
Over the years, I’ve questioned the “all things” part of that verse. When my first marriage was not restored, I questioned and then rationalized. Low and behold, He did have something better! Whew! Okay, I’m still convinced “that with God, all things are possible.”
I’ve been convinced in all areas of my life except for one. For many many years (okay, all of my life!) I’ve struggled with my weight. I came out of the womb a 6x! So, when most little first grade girls were wearing 6x, I’d already graduated to the next size! Well, maybe there is a slight exaggeration here, but you get the picture! Never have I been thin and what I would consider “normal.” What is “normal” you ask? Well, that is another blog for another day! Anyway, my weight has been an ongoing struggle for most of my life.
I’m able to trust God with everything in my life. I’ve been through some very difficult times, and with the hand of God on them, I’ve come out okay! Stronger! Stronger in every difficult time except for my weight issues. Here is an area, that over the years, I have almost felt as if God has taken His hand off of me. “You are on your own for this one kid… good luck!” Now, I know that is not the case, but it has felt like it. If, in fact, ALL things are possible with God, then shouldn’t I be a size 6, weighing 130 pounds? I’ve certainly invested years and years of blood, sweat, tears, money, time and countless hours on my face begging God to change me.
The past year and half have afforded me the opportunity to begin making some healthy changes in my life. It has been a slow and steady process, some days slower than others! As I continue to work on my health, the weight issue is beginning to become clearer to me. I’m taking some steps that, with hard work and “suffering,” I’m beginning to see some change that might actually last a lifetime!
On my current journey, I was reading a daily devotional I downloaded. Today’s verse was Matthew 19:26. I have the version set to The Message in my online Bible so this verse came up today in a way I’d not read it before.
“No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.” (Matthew 19:26 MSG)
Those words in Matthew stopped me in my tracks. How much of this journey have I tried doing on my own? I rely on God to get me started and then when things seem to be going well, I let Him have some time off and I take over. This only leads to failure and greater frustration.
I’m on Day 9 of a pretty intense 21 Days of cleansing and purification. This is my second time around. The first time I made it to Day 5, hit a wall and never looked back. My second attempt has been better and I’ve included God on the journey. I’ve had a day or two where I felt good and then realized that I had begun to draw up God’s release papers, but then realized that I truly can’t pull this off myself. I need to trust that He knows what He’s doing and roll with every part of this journey…the good, bad and the ugly. My reliance MUST be on Him and not myself. Do I really trust God with this venture? It’s never happened before…. so why now?
Every day I lift up loved ones to the heavens, completely trusting God in their lives. How it is that I can trust Him with others lives and not completely my own?
No matter our journey… whether it be through storms, times of new growth, content/happy times… it’s a journey that He does not want us to take alone. We can’t pull it off on our own, but have every chance in the world when we trust God to do it!
Thoughts and Reflections on Life 