Is there hope for a young woman whose single mom was a drug addict?
And who at age 11 became friends with a man named G.G.? He took her and her friends to fun places like the roller-skating rink, bought her gifts and was the “dad” she never had.
Is there hope for this young woman who was raped by G.G. at age 13 then pimped out to strangers?
Is there hope for this same young woman who, three years later, murdered her pimp?
Well, is there?
In the gospels, we hear the story of a woman with chronic bleeding. Her bleeding made her unclean according to Jewish law: no friends, no place of worship, no husband, no money.
Then came hope: Jesus. As you watch this compelling video, pray for this young woman, please. You’ll see why. Pause the music player at the bottom of the page. Thanks.
ARE SO many people in need. Jesus knows your needs and promises to give you everything you need. He’s a walking/talking/thinking/breathing God-man of generosity.
So what about the tough economy? Some people have lost their homes or jobs; others their 401Ks (or at least a big chunk). Gone are the once-a-month fancy dinners for most people as well as yearly vacations.
The apparent disconnect of generous Jesus and rinky-dink household budgets may have you wondering, “What’s up with that, Lord? Didn’t you feed thousands with two fish and five loaves? Didn’t you give back to the widow of Nain her only son who had died? Didn’t you heal (for free and with no co-pay!) a paralyzed man, a woman with chronic bleeding, ten lepers and many more folks?”
Yes, yes and yes.
“So what about me? Will you meet my needs?” you ask. Good question. It deserves an answer.
Still I wonder.
I wonder about Maria. As I left a government building I spied Maria standing on the curb. I didn’t know her name. . .yet. All I knew was she looked like she needed a ride. So I asked her in my best Spanish — which isn’t very good — “?Adonda va?” She named her street in her best English.
My typically cautious self let in a potential ax murderer and away we sped. We talked of kids and work and diapers and the Lord. She had all but the diapers.
I wrote down her phone number and promised to have someone get in touch with her. This someone has a network in the area churches to help meet needs, physical and spiritual.
As I dropped off Maria — she never did pull her ax — I told myself that the real question isn’t, “Does God meet needs?” Rather it is, “Do I believe Jesus?”
Well, do I? Do you? Do I believe him not only for paying my sin debt on the cross but also for working out all the details of life?
There was a time I figured he was too busy to care about me. I was wrong. He cared enough to walk with me through the valley of the shadow of death.
My experience reminds me of the father whose son had a demon (Mark 9:14-29). As the boy convulsed, foaming at the mouth, the dad pleaded, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus answered, “All things are possible for one who believes.”
I love this next part.
The dad cried out “I believe; help my unbelief!” His statement shows that he wanted to believe yet struggled deeply.
So why is eating so often a big problem, big and round like an Oreo cookie?
Food won’t bring happiness if it is an idol. Elyse Fitzpatrick writes in Idols of the Heart, “Let’s face it: we’re glutted on the joys and pleasures of the world, and our minds remain unconvinced that the joy of the Master is all that much better. ‘The attractions of this world and the delights of wealth, and the search for success and lure of nice things’ (Mark 4:19 TLB) crowd out love for God.”
So how do we crush idols? Especially the idol of food. We still must eat, right? Here are the three steps.
First, pray. Heart-humbling, Spirit-led and regular confession and repentance are the only weapons that weaken the stronghold of idolatrous thoughts and desires. When you or I confess our neediness and sin, God gives us grace. It’s a promise. The apostle Peter wrote, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5)
When you bow before him and tell him you’re helpless and hopeless to crush your food idol without him, he will help you.
You might pray something like, “Father, please forgive my sin of idolatry. I have placed another god before you. You gave me food as a gift and I have misused it. Forgive me for desiring the pleasure of eating as a way to comfort myself and for failing to take care of my body, which you gave to me to care for. Forgive my negative thoughts about my body, my beauty and my value. I pray all this in Jesus’ name.”
Follow your confession with repentance. Think of repentance as a U-turn. You’ve been going in one direction, dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Now you’ve realized your error and confessed it. You turn the opposite direction and follow God into the spiritual Promised Land of abundant joy. Here you desire what God desires, and what he desires is your obedience because he knows what you need: Him.
Second, put to death your idolatry. By the power of the Holy Spirit – you won’t be able to do it on your own – determine to stop a sin dead in its tracks before it goes full steam. This means stopping ourselves in the midst of the act.
An example: You catch your reflection in the mirror and begin to trash-talk (i.e., “you’re so ugly” or “you won’t succeed at loving yourself thin”). Say to yourself, “This is a lie. I am made in the image of God. I have beauty and value.” And, “With God’s help, I will succeed and love myself thin. As I think well, speak well, rest well, drink well, dress well and move well, I will eat well and lose excess weight.”
Another example: After a stressful workday, you don’t feel like eating well. You want to pick up a carton of ice cream, turn on the TV and tune out. Though tempted, you can choose a route home that steers you clear of grocery stores. Once home, you can pop an easy meal into the microwave and enjoy it, guiltlessly.
Third, put on obedience and praise. Let me illustrate with another example. Julie knew she ate for all the wrong reasons, the main one being loneliness. The lonelier she felt, the more she turned to good for comfort. The comfort lasted a few minutes, then she felt mortified and desired more comfort from more food.
A Christian, she confessed her sin of turning to an idol (food) instead of God, who promises to be with her always. Then she repented and walked away from the pantry. Recognizing that she is not alone, even though she often feels lonely, she sang praise choruses.
While these three steps sound easy – a child can learn them – follow-through is tough. Old patterns hang on like stubborn stains. Satan tempts you where you are weakest. Your sin nature still wants its food NOW.
So what’s a girl to do?
Pray. Put to death idolatry. Put on obedience and praise.
As. Long. As. It. Takes.
My new eBook Love Yourself Thin, Discover 7 Secrets to Weight Loss, God’s Way will be available soon. Only $7.
The old saying is true, People don’t care how much you know till they know how much you care.
Trust. This matters. If you don’t care, no one will trust you.
Seriously. Why would you? or me? Why would we trust someone whom we don’t know and get hurt again?
Like the Caddyshack gopher — yep, the one with the dance moves and destructo mindset — I dig a hole, hide in the dark, popping up only when I determine it’s safe.
WHAT IF SAFE IS, like, NEVER?
This is a cry of so many women: Keep me safe, hold me, make the scary stuff go away.
Because I’m scared
and if people only heard my thought or knew the real me
they would run
scream
flee in the other direction.
I used to be one of the scared, of the untrusting.
Now, I don’t hang out my dirty underwear for all to see but, hey, if my slip is showing, so what. Really, who cares?
In my scared, untrusting days, confiding in someone — even God — would unnerve me. More than that, it would send me running.
To. My. Dark. Hole.
One sunny morning, the hole became so dark, it caved in. I had to reach out or die. A slow death of losing myself.
Then I forgot myself, looked to Jesus and found myself in him.
This marked the day I decided to drag myself out of depression. I couldn’t do it alone. I needed God, my family and a counselor. I needed to take a chance and trust.
Not easy. It took time.
Lots of time.
This is the nature of trust. Built over time, trust can bridge the fear of being found out.
So what it my slip is showing.
You Are Loved, Lucy
P.S. Watch this and smile: The Caddyshack gopher and a Tiger. Enjoy.
“You’re ugly.” “You’ll never be pretty.” “No one wants to be seen with you.”
“How can God even love you?”
You would never say these horrible things to a friend, even a stranger.
Chances are, you trash-talk yourself. Between your pierced ears, your mind entertains lies of your beauty and worth, or lack thereof. Satan tempts you to lie to yourself; sadly, unless you resist him, he’ll con you. You’ll believe the lies and tear yourself to pieces as a wolf rips apart sheep.
I know I have.
So have the women who’ve attended my Inside Out Beauty workshops. In fact I’ve never met a woman so comfortable in her skin that she accepts herself just as she is. Yet God accepts her. God accepts you.
At the workshop, I ask the question, What’s one thing you’d like to change about her body? Sadly, at my latest one, a woman wrote: “Everything.”
Everything?
I hurt for her. Chances are her eyes shone pretty, or her eyebrows had a nice arch, or her skin looked healthy or something, anything. I KNOW she trash-talked to herself. And I don’t know her name.
I want to hug her hard and tell her:
“You are precious just the way God made you. . .a pearl under pressure. . .but a pearl.
e an Oreo cookie?
.”
