Home 
Past Thought for the week messages Choose to change with God's strength
Past Thought for the week messages Choose to change with God's strength | Choose to change with God's strength |
|
This week we have a guest writer - Sue Seabrook - a group leader who has benefitted much from the Ft For Life FOrever programme. This is what she writes: There are things in life that we cannot change, like where we were born, who our parents are, or how old we are, but there are things in our life that we can choose to change, like our attitudes, our jobs, the place we live, unhelpful friendships…. and even our eating habits. Some changes can be really hard to do , especially if it is something that has been going on for many years, but to make changes happen we need to choose to change, be ready to do what it takes to change, and to realise that we don’t have to do it in our own strength - we can do it with Gods strength. There is a wonderful story in Luke Ch 8 v 43 - 47 about a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. It is a story of desperation, of determination, of getting to her goal. It is a story of such hope. This woman was desperate for a change in her life. She knew Jesus was in town and she believed he could help her, so she was determined to get to him. It was a struggle with the crowd all around, pushing and shoving, but she kept going, pushing through and eventually she managed to touch the hem of Jesus' clothes. She was healed and, just as Jesus had Jesus told her, it was her faith that made her whole. For me this story reminded me of my struggle with 35 years of yo-yo dieting. In desperation I cried out to God to find a better way . I was then told of the book by Sue Prosser called ‘How to stop dieting and start living’, and thanks to that book and with ongoing determination, changes have come after years of disordered eating. Jesus has set me FREE from dieting. Like the woman in the story , I have had to do my part. She had to go out and get to Jesus; I have had to change my way of thinking to get away from the diet mentality. Like the woman pushing through the crowd. I have had to push on through days when it has been a real struggle. No doubt for that woman it must have been really hard to go on, as she must have been really weak with her condition, but bit by bit she got there. For me, bit by bit I, too, am getting there. I am still a work in progress and sometimes the changes seem slow , but they are there. My dress size is down ,as is my weight ,and my disordered eating is better and improving all the time. Maybe you are thinking well good for you , but I just cant do it on my own. Well neither can I, but I am thankful I don’t have to and you don’t have to either, because you can do it with God's strength. There’s a verse in Philippians Ch 4 v 13 that says, 'I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.' So there it is. You can choose to change with God's strength. Just ask him to help you, and he will. When I met with some other ladies who had done the Fit for life course with me, we all agreed that when we tried to do things in our strength it just didn’t go well, but with God's strength it certainly makes things a lot easier! So don’t try to do it in your own strength; do it with God's strength. It WILL make all the difference. |
| |
