THE CALORIES ARE ON US
A few years ago, Belinda and I
attended a conference luncheon in which women were the predominant attendees. When the pastor offered the invocation, she
petitioned God to bless our time of fellowship and to grant us a Rhema Word
from the speaker (myself). Her prayer
concluded with the grace before a sumptuous repast, a request for God’s
presence in both the enjoyment and nutrition of our meal. In the process, she asked for the divine removal
of “anything in the meal that might be offensive to our bodies.” She paused momentarily and added, “including
calories.” Belinda and I stole a quick
glance at each other and smiled.
Please understand that we were not
smiling because we were making light of the pastor. Her prayer simply seemed somewhat amusing since,
just the day before, we had deployed our plan to increase the distance of our walks
and to decrease the consumption of calories.
Our mutual smiles conveyed one silently shared thought, that is, we
would not be waiting for any heavenly extraction of the “offensive” things over
which we had full control. Unfortunately, the Mark 16:18 blessing does
not pertain to our caloric intake. While
God protects us from inadvertent dietary harm, the
calories are on us!
This luncheon episode brought to mind
the many times I have heard people utter (during counseling) very firm and unwavering
sentiments similar to this: “S/he will have to understand…this is just me…and I’m not about to
change to accommodate their image of who I should be!” Have you ever heard or spoken such words? They are not the beginning of wisdom; in fact
they lead to relational disintegration and folly.
In truth, we are ultimately
responsible for ourselves. It is so easy
to assign blame to others for our life situations and circumstances: ‘I am so
and so…because s/he did so and so.’ (or) ‘I wouldn’t be like this if abc situation
had not occurred.’ (or) ‘I didn’t get that job or that opportunity because s/he
did not give me a fair chance.’ (or) ‘I will never get ahead because of xyz circumstance.’ The only viable response to all of these
excuses is to look squarely at the image in the mirror and speak aloud with
conviction and volume, “GET OVER YOURSELF!”
Get up, get moving, and go…wherever
you need or want to go!
Of course, people and situations can
have impact on us. But if we focus continually
on perceived deficits and deficiencies, we become paralyzed, ineffective,
unfulfilled and victimized by stinkin’
thinkin’! In the final analysis,
you and I are the drivers of our destiny.
Wise people always place God in first position. When we do so, and if we refuse to surrender
to self-pity, resentment, doubt, or apathy, we will walk into our destiny.
The Word is our guide and the only guarantor
of God’s glory:
This
book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate
therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is
written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou
shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8)
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