When It Is GOOD To Be Fat!

One of "joys" of being a, well....mature....aging.....um...."older" woman is fact that if I eat the same amount food as I did in younger days, I will not...well....let's just say... I will not have the same amount of "padding". By that, I do not mean there is less!


It is one of those dirty little secrets that no one tells you. As you age not only do things migrate south, but also hair that turns grey also turns wiry and unreasonable, and sleep begins to allude you, and body parts that you were not even aware that you have begin to hurt, but on top of all those little party favors, your body apparently begins to forget how to metabolize food.

I'm not kidding.

• Now one slice of cheese converts into 1/2 inch of girth. 
• Just looking at ice cream translates to 3 pounds. 
• And a slice of pizza....well, you can imagine the damage of that!

So you can imagine the joy I felt when I found something that is supposed to be fat!


My soul.


No kidding, just look at this:

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

but the soul of the diligent is made fat.

Proverbs 13:4

And not only do we want a fat soul, leanness of soul is seen as a bad thing:

And He gave them their request,

 but sent leanness into their soul.

Psalm 106:15

Yeah! Leanness is bad! Fat is good!

Well. At least for souls.

When LEAN is Bad 

So how did that bad leanness in Psalm 106 happen?  It happened when the Israelites were out in the wilderness, wandering around and getting hungry and getting worried and doubting God. Nevermind that they had just watched the Red Sea swallow up the Egyptian army, they still doubted God's ability to provide for them.

So they fretted. They complained. They begged for relief.

And then God sent them what they wanted. 

But would they have still wanted it if they had realized the cost? What if God had had them on a program in the wilderness that was going to make their souls fat? But they missed out?

What if what we want is the very thing that will turn our heart from God and make our soul skinny and shriveled and lacking in life and abundance?


Would anything be worth that?




Fatten Up!
So how do we fatten up our soul?


By DILIGENTLY,  persistently, unswervingly, energetically, doggedly pursuing God and what He wants!


Even if it takes us straight into a dangerous wilderness with no water, food, or protection. Even if it is for 40 years. Even if it means leaving all that we know behind. Even if it means heading for a future that is unknown.


The sluggard in Prov. 13 craved. Which means he WANTED stuff. Maybe he wanted an easier job. Maybe he wanted more money in the bank. Maybe he wanted his investments to do better. Maybe he wanted what his neighbors had.


But, what if God had given him what he craved for. Would he have had what he really needed? And what would be the state of his soul? Would it be fat?


Maybe we need to stop craving something, anything, different than we have. Maybe we need to stop complaining about the economy, or the shrinking paycheck, or the government, or the......(and you can fill in the blank there).


Maybe all of that is just the means God has to FATTEN UP OUR SOULS! 


Maybe diligently pursuing God through difficult times is just what we need to have a Fat Soul!


The world offers us:

• a fat wallet, and an emaciated spirit
• a prosperous life, and a bankrupt heart
• a rich job, and a defunct dream
• an obese brain, and a destitute life
• an opulent ambition, and a lean soul.

So thank you very much world, but I will take a FAT SOUL if you please.

As the old Gospel hymn goes, "You can have all this world, just give me Jesus."

"Don't View Life Through the Lens"

"Don't view life through the lens."

That is the advice that my photographer daughter sometimes gets- lovingly of course- from her younger sister.  And in reality it is good advice. If you are always looking through your viewfinder and out through the lens of your camera, you may miss some pretty interesting things around you.

And so having overheard this advice rather often lately, it reverberated in my ears, when I also got to learn this lesson.


I was on a cruise. I know, I know- I am terribly spoiled by my Lord who delights to give good gifts to His children! He takes very good care of my though I neither deserve nor expect it.  But because His very nature is good, He delights to lavish on us unexpected gifts.

And so it was I found myself on a ship, surrounded by friends and having a marvelous time. One morning I woke up early and made my way to the Lido deck first, to procure a cup of coffee, and then on to the top deck to watch the sunrise.

And the sunrise was beautiful. And the longer I stood there, the more beautiful it became. I stood there trying to get the perfect shot, the whole time realizing that my camera could never capture the beauty before me.

And then all of a sudden, a still voice in my spirit beckoned me to put my camera down. And I, as I must confess I often do, ignored the voice for a while because it was distracting me from getting my shot.

But then I listened. And I put the camera down.

And my view opened up.

And I realized....the sunrise was not just in front of me on the horizon. No. It was a 360 degree, technicolor, Vistavision, surround sound, IMAX, 3-D, extravaganza of color and beauty.

I had almost missed it because I was only looking at what was before me.

Then I felt the Lord teaching me a deep lesson:

What I see in front of me is just one small piece of what God is up to. He is doing great and marvelous things all around me. And I need to put down my limited view of looking at things through my circumstance or through my hurts or through my needs. I need to open up my field of view to the 360 degree work of my Lord.

So that morning on the deck I put my camera down. It could never capture all the glory of the moment anyway. Instead of seeing the sunrise through the lens, I got the whole picture and  stood in awe of my Lord and this small glimpse of His beauty.

I realized in a new and deeper way that when I see what is going on around me it is just a fraction of what God is up to.

"He does great and unsearchable things, marvelous things without number."

Job 5:9

Going on Vacation!

I get to go on an amazing vacation.

Here is the deal- I never could have gone on my own budget; I never would have dreamed of the opportunity; I thought this was the sort of thing "other people" got to do.

But I get to. Because I serve an amazing God. And He does amazing things in other people's hearts. And He showers His blessings on His children.

• sometimes directly
• sometimes through the hearts of His people. 

So I will be gone for a little over three weeks.

Amazing.

I will be back with lessons learned lots to share!

See you in three weeks.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.                             Ephesians 3:20,21

A Sacrifice of Praise?

On the way to church, my head hurting, my mind reeling, my heart dragging......

Hmmmmm......, I don't think that is what I am supposed to be doing or feeling. I mean, I am going to the House of my Lord and am going to hear His word preached and praise His name in study and in song and be blessed by being with other believers.

What is wrong with me?

As I drive along, condemning myself and feeling badly about feeling so badly, a verse came into my mind:

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name."                              -Hebrews 13:15

 A sacrifice of praise?

What does that even mean?

I will tell you what it meant to me this past Sunday morning on the way to church:

• I had to slay and then lay on the altar the things that were huge impediments to my praise. They had to be sacrificed because I had to PRAISE.
• My mind, my body, and my feelings had to be laid down because they were incapable that morning of praising!

First was my mind which was condemning me and thinking of all the undone chores and worrying about the problems and logically looking at situations which it was declaring "impossible"....

• It had to be laid down

Second was my body which was tired and consumed with a looming migraine and achy and weary and teary and....

• It had to be laid down

Third were my feelings which were jumbled and sad and conflicted and disappointed and confused and....

• They had to be laid down

All three of these parts of me had to be laid on the altar so that my lips would not give off complaints or judgement or despair, but rather "the fruit of (my) lips would give thanks to His name."

So choosing to praise anyway....maybe that is the sacrifice. Choosing to be thankful. Choosing to be grateful. Choosing to be humble. Choosing to be content. Choosing to be satisfied.

Satisfied in Jesus.

And as I feebly gave that sacrifice of praise, not a thing around me changed- my head still hurt and the problems were still the same.....but somehow praising changed everything.

Now again this morning, I am trying to remember that lesson. Today is an anniversary of an event that seemed to be one of promise but changed into one of heartbreak.  So today, as I WANT to feel sad and despondent,  I. Will. Praise.

I.

Will.

Praise.

Him.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? 

Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,    

for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

Ps. 43:5