Excuse Me While I Wipe The Chocolate From My Face.

 Frustrated Foodie 

      Its ten a.m. and I'm already hungry.  I try to ignore the uncomfortable pangs as my stomach screams my name. This is mid- morning of the first day of my latest attempt to lose weight and I’m already contemplating giving up.

    I've tried a buffet of diets on my quest to be thin. There was the cabbage soup diet (not to be eaten when you were planning on being in public), the hot dog and cantaloupe diet (this one actually included a half cup of ice-cream but didn't specify level or heaping so being the generous person I am, I was  always charitable), the all meat diet (no fiber), the no meat diet (always hungry), the liquid shake diet , the smaller portion diet (this one gave me way too much freedom), the fat free diet, diet apps on my phone, a horrible little fat blocking pill that had embarrassing side effects, and I confess I have even tried the “Breath your way to a thinner you,” diet.

    It seems I’m always trying to conform to a set of rules that leaves me frustrated. It is the first thing on my mind in the morning and the last thing on my mind before I go to sleep. I know the importance of being healthy.  I feel the pressure of looking a certain way and I hate how I allow this to make me feel undesirable.  Rejection, whether from my own self-condemning thoughts or the words and actions of others, leaves me feeling inadequate and makes me want to retreat in defeat from daily life.  

   So here I am at fifty-two and still trying to figure this whole thing out. I’m not willing to give up because that means total defeat. I figure if I just keep moving forward, someday I will pass the finish line.

    2 Corinthians 12:9 says, But the Lord said, “My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.” (ERV)

This shows he has a plan and doesn't leave me to fend for myself.

   Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

This verse keeps me going with a promise of eventual victory.

   Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

I can do this because of his perfect power. When I feel the urge to just give up, I know it will be through his strength that I will eventually master my frustration.  Knowing he will enable me to be victorious is a real pressure relief; my peace depends on trusting his word.

    What thoughts put you to bed and greet you first thing in the morning? Is it depression, addiction, anger? The list could go on and on.  Changing the way we think by resting and relying on God can change our life forever.