Labor to Enter His Rest

Do you trust God enough to enter His rest?

Take a look at this verse, and let it soak in for a minute:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:10-12 (NIV)

Not only did Paul know that he would share in the sufferings of Christ, he WANTED to share in His sufferings, becoming like Christ in his death.

What was Christ in His death? Shannon Woodward shared a few sobering words in her poem this month based on Isaiah 53 listing them as: grief, fear, shame, regret, hunger, thirst, wrath, terror, judgment, and death.

Paul’s vigorous journey to the cross reminds me of the verse in Hebrews 4:11 which says, “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”

Rest and the cross—can the two be compared? Absolutely—let me explain why. When we enter His rest, we give up our fight. Like the shell of a puppet His hand takes over and begins to animate our life. It’s not easy to put down our will so that His can be done. It’s not easy to face shame for His sake or judgment or terror, but we might when we chose God’s will over ours for our lives.

What about hunger and thirst? Do you know that hunger is a running theme throughout the scriptures? God fed the Israelites on Manna for forty years to teach them that He alone sustains life. Complete dependency on Him is the eternal lesson we all must learn. Dependency = rest. Again we see this complete dependency from Jesus himself in John chapter 19:

Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:27-30, NIV

When I look at lessons like that, my diet—my struggle to eat less and move more, to stop when I’m full—pales in comparison. It just one thing of many that I need to hand over to God in my life.

Let me paint a scenario. You’ve eaten a good dinner, stopped when you were satisfied and feel pretty good about the choices you’ve made. 30 minutes later the TV goes on, and the family starts rummaging through the kitchen for a television snack. Suddenly you get the munchies. Your brain starts off slow, and then goes into a wild frenzy of arguments giving you every reason why you deserve to eat more than you should. Telling you that you can break the rules “just this once” even though you know that last night, and the night before that, and the night before that, were the “just once” days too.

Say “No.”

What’s the worst that can happen? You suffer a little internal sting, while others around you indulge. As Paul said, make every effort to enter into His rest, which includes the resolution that God, and only God can sustain us.

Getting through the little lessons like these help to strengthen us for the tougher ones: grief, fear, shame, regret, wrath, terror, judgment, and death. It’s not easy to put down our will so that His can be done, but I promise you this, it will bring peace to your life.

©2009, Darlene Schacht

Weight Loss: Achieving Long-Term Success

After ten years, I can finally say with confidence that I am a lifetime member of the Live Well plan. Being a lifetime member doesn’t mean that I’m so tiny I slip back into my high school jeans, nor does it mean that I don’t struggle with the desire to eat more often than I should. What it does mean to me is that I have been walking this journey day after day, year after year for over a decade.

I’m averaged-sized, and while I’d love to be micro-mini-sized, so I’d look adorable in baby doll dresses and swimsuits, I’m not. I walk and I fall; I lose and I gain. Three steps forward—two steps back. But slowly and surely I’m getting there.

I wear a size 7 pants, but if I shop at the “generous” clothing stores that stroke my ego with rock bottom numbers, I might squeeze into a size 4.

I haven’t always been this way. As I’ve written in past articles, I wore plus-sized clothing in my mid-twenties through to my early-thirties, but I’ve come a long way, baby—and I’m not going back!

The other day as I was reaching into the fridge for some strawberries, a revelation came to mind. It was then—during that moment of choice—that I realized a key factor which has kept me from gaining back all the weight.

I had tried diets before. I had joined reputable groups. I had practiced things that I’ve learned. But the one ingredient I had been missing was this: persistence.

When you combine persistence with the grace of God, you become a dynamic living force. It’s as simple as that. Stop giving up when the going gets tough, and for once in your life, make it happen.

Next time you feel a hint of discouragement dragging you down, remember Bartimaeus the blind man who sat by the side of the road. The Bible tells us that many rebuked him, telling him to be quiet, but instead of heading their voice, he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

The result of his persistence was the restoration of his sight. (Mark 10:46-52)

And look at Zacchaeus—a wee little man with great persistence. The Bible tells us that he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus. His determination resulted in a personal visit from Him that day. Can you imagine? We get excited about winning a celebrity lunch date, but this little guy had the Messiah over to his house for tea–well maybe coffee–who knows for sure.

Then in Mark chapter five we read about a woman with a 12-year issue of blood who pressed through the crowd just to touch the hem of His garment, and immediately she was healed.

Anyone of these people could have given up when the going got tough, but they chose to persist, and in doing so reaped the benefits that perseverance has to offer.

We can only imagine the opportunities that we’ve lost over the course of our lifetime because we gave up just before sunrise.

Ever have one of those weeks where the plateau gets you so low that you give up all together? Have you ever wondered what might have happened if you would have waited one more week? My guess is that the scale would have moved.

And what about those nights when you get so down on yourself because you made a mistake. Have you ever thrown the plan out the window because you didn’t meet your own high level of expectation? We’re not created to be perfect—we’re created to press on:

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
-–Philippians 3:12

Stick with it! If it’s been dark for a while, have hope—it could possibly be the last hour of the night. Don’t fall asleep now, and miss the breathtaking sunrise.

©2009, Darlene Schacht

Find more articles on faith-focussed weight loss in Darlene’s monthly column, “Live Well!”

Overcoming a Constant Desire for Sweets

A reader recently asked me how she could overcome her constant desire for sweets. It’s a good question, since it’s a struggle that many of us have tried to defeat. The way that I see it is that we can’t control the things we desire, until our hearts have been changed. Fortunately they naturally change over time so that many of the things we once enjoyed aren’t so appealing anymore, but there are some things that we develop a passion for that never seem to go away, no matter how old we get.

Take chocolate for instance. Some of us developed a weakness for chocolate in our teens and it’s plagued us ever since. For others, like me, it’s potato chips. I just can’t seem to get enough salt. I figured that by the age of 43 this chip phase would be gone, but nope—it still rears its ugly head every time the TV goes on–or when it’s off for that matter.

So how do we separate ourselves from these passions? That question would be similar to one asking “How do I run a marathon?” The answer is simple—a sensible training program will get you there. Sure you can run without training, but all you’ll manage to get is a sprint. In order to complete in a marathon, athletes must train for months or years.

In dieting, the sprint is otherwise known as the “Yo-Yo Diet.” You start off at a great pace, but soon find out that you aren’t equipped for the long run. You can barely make a mile, never mind 26.2. A few months or a year down the road, you start again with the same uncontrolled enthusiasm you had before, and once again you lose steam. If you want to achieve long term success, you must train yourself as an athlete trains for a race—no pain no gain.

Dr. Joyce Beck, author of The Complete Beck Diet for Life, often writes about strengthening our resistance muscle, which she defines as, “a psychological muscle that is strengthened by resisting the urge to eat unplanned food.” She also says, “Life becomes so much easier when your resistance muscle is strong.” If you’re looking to find motivation and change the way you think about food, Dr. Beck’s books, The Complete Beck Diet for Life and The Beck Diet Solution are a great read.

Ways to strengthen our resistance may include:

• Passing on the junk food in the grocery store
• Making a healthy choice when eating out
• Passing on the goodies at group meetings
• Taking one trip to a buffet instead of two or more
• Eating until we’re comfortable rather than stuffed
• Limiting treats to once or twice a week, rather than daily

Our resistance is quite weak on the first three days of a new diet plan. If we can just get past the first three days, things usually seem to get a bit easier. Again if we get past the first three weeks, we start to see the muscle is strengthened and working for us.

Does this sound like a foreign concept? Compare Hebrews 12:11-12:

At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.
So don’t sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!
–Hebrews 12:11-12, The Message

So, the answer to the question, “how could one overcome a constant desire for sweets?” is resistance training. No, it isn’t easy at first, but it does get easier the more we train ourselves to say “no.”

Saying “no” should never include a pacifier. If you’ve had enough sweets, then don’t fall into the trap that so many dieters do of purchasing low cal alternatives to squeeze a little more in. A few years back, just after I took off 40 pounds, and had maintained for a while, I decided that indulging in low-cal gelatin would be a great afternoon treat. What could it hurt?

I started to get my gelatin ready the night before (cherry is my favorite), then enjoy a large bowlful the next day, in the heat of the afternoon sun. It was working for me, until I tired of the same old afternoon treat, and started rummaging through the cupboards for something better. Pretty soon ice cream and I were bathing together in the hot summer sun, day after day.

Had I just stuck with the plan, which didn’t include an afternoon treat every day, I wouldn’t have had another bad habit to kick. A better idea would have been to plan for an occasional treat.

Imagine how our children would be if every time they cried for a cookie we handed them something sweet. Teaching our children to know when they’ve had enough is an important part of their training. It’s also a part of ours.
Learn to train yourself to eat enough, to make the best choices, and to stick to the plan. That’s how you’ll win this race!

Be strong, ladies. And until next month, Live Well!

©2009, Darlene Schacht

Find more articles on faith focussed weight loss in Darlene’s monthly column, “Live Well!”

2009: The Year You Take off the Weight!

I woke up the other morning to a voice. I’m certain it was God’s. It wasn’t mine, it wasn’t my kids, and it wasn’t my dear husband waking me up—no, it was that still small voice that speaks to the heart, when we take time to listen. It’s the voice that always lines up with the Word, and nudges us back on the path.

“It’s not a matter of habit or lifestyle. With you, it’s simply a matter of the heart,” He said. And I knew that He heard the grumble of my tummy, which quickly turned my thoughts toward visions of drive-throughs that danced in my head.

I was reminded of the verse in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, when in chapter 6:12, he writes:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

There’s a battle going on in our hearts, ladies, and Satan wants nothing more than to see us turn our eyes away from the Father and onto the idols that the world has to offer.

I’ve tried to change my habits, change the food, change my plan of action… even change the scale to a friendlier, less-honest, version, but when I see that none of those changes have helped—I come back to the issue at hand—the necessary change in my heart.

What do I long for? Is it a closer walk with Jesus that I crave, or a fudge brownie?For years it was the high I get from food. It still is some days—too many days unfortunately, which is why I need that constant nudge from the Father reminding me that He longs to be my heart’s desire—He alone.

Again that morning, I turned to my daily devotional where He clearly spoke to me again:

Work and prayer represent the two forces that will ensure your success. Your work and My work. For prayer, believing prayer, is based on the certainty that I am working for you and with you and in you. Go forward gladly and unafraid. I am with you. With men your task may be impossible, but with God all things are possible.

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13.
(December 29, God Calling, by Two Listeners.)

I love it when God confirms that tug on our hearts, telling us that, YES—it was Him that spoke, and that He is taking each and every step beside us.
I’m not alone, and, sister, you’re not alone in this walk either. I hope you accept that. Do your part, and trust that He can, and will deliver you from the bondage that food has on you.
How can faith make a difference? The answer is two-fold:

1. When we live out our faith, His weapons–which are not of this world–become ours.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. –Ephesians 6:10-13.

1. And secondly, God promises to give His people a heart with new desires so that we won’t turn to the idols–like unhealthy obsessions with food–that we cling to:

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.
–Ezekiel 36:25-27, NLT

I pray that 2009 will be the year that you discover success—the year you take off the weight, and keep it off! You and He, working together—gladly and unafraid.

©2009, Darlene Schacht