Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
It's January 2, 2013. What an incredible year it has been.
It would be so easy for me to rest on the laurels of my past successes. But I can neither wallow in my past failures or live in the grace of my past successes. They are both--well--IN THE PAST.
If I am committed to thinking on what is true in my life, then what certainly IS true, is that I have this moment. And at this moment, I weight 194 pounds. That means, I have 55 pounds to lose to be a health weight. I'm not done. The job isn't over.
Moreover, I have much growth to do spiritually that is not yet complete.
I took the week off between Christmas and New Year's. I started by just making healthy off-plan choices. But soon it turned to a handful of M&M's to all-out-full-fledged dessert on New Year's Day. I don't really regret it. Why?
Well, it allowed me to see how terrible I felt physically from these unhealthy foods. The one day, just from eating a white flour tortilla and white rice, I felt like my head was in a fog and I couldn't get my body moving. It was awful! I'm still feeling cloudy. And when my head is cloudy, my judgement is also cloudy. These foods do nothing good to me. They really only hurt me both physically and mentally. Even more, they hurt me emotionally and spiritually. When my mental judgement is clouded, my emotions become heightened. When my emotions are heighten AND my judgement is clouded, I run to food to calm the emotions. Can anyone relate to this destructive pattern?
When I put all those things together, I have officially run to food instead of to God to solve my problems--and it all started with a tortilla and rice. Whoa! Guess what I need to stay away from?
It's good to learn these things now. It's good to learn what foods cause adverse affects in me. It's good to see that there are certain things I still cannot handle. We are to be wise to the sin that can entangle us. I got entangled a few times this week.
But what do we do when we fall down? We get back up. As I said before, a runner cannot win a race looking behind him. He also cannot win it laying on the ground.
THE SECRET TO WINNING IS FINISHING THE RACE
While reading "Loving God with All Your Mind" last weekend, Elizabeth George was helping me understand the importance of running the race in a forward motion. She was recounting the Winter Olympics many years ago where figure skater after figure skater fell during their routine. These were the BEST skaters in the WORLD and every single skater fell--some three times or more. But every single one of them got up and continued their routine to the end. They didn't stay down. They were there to perform and to finish their routine--a routine they had spent years training to skate. That year, EVERY skater that was awarded a medal had fallen. But they were standing on an Olympic platform with a medal around their neck. Why did they get such an honor? Because they got back up and finished their routine.
I can't win a medal if I fall and stay down.
I can't cross the finish line and reach my goal if I quit.
Will I fall? Oh yes. But as the chief research scientist for General Motors said, "The enthusiast fails forward."
Amy Carmichael was a pioneer missionary to India. One day she prayed, "Father, I'm not soaring today. Help me!" In her writings, Miss Carmichael pens her Heavnly Father's response, "Daughter, soaring is not always flying high above the world. Sometimes one is soaring only two feet above the ground, just enough to keep you from getting tangled in the thorns and crashing against the rocks."
Some days, recently, I have felt like I am only soaring above the rocks. I've felt a little tired, haven't wanted to run, worn down...only able to even limp or stagger along. Yet, on such days, I need to keep facing forward!
Elizabeth George says:
"But even when we weaken, and even when we 'fail forward' we are to rest in the Lord and rely on Him. You see, He is in control. And because of this truth, we can keep on keeping on, whatever obstacles and distractions arise. Pressing on is our duty and, as one commentator wisely points out, 'We are not blamed if we have not yet reached that crown of goodness. But we are blamed if we are not pressing on to it and resting contented with anything short of it.'"
I will win the race!!!!
You go girl!!! FORWARD!
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