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<\/a><\/p>\nThe priests stood on the banks of the rushing Jordan River, the Ark of the Covenant heavy on their shoulders.\u00a0 On the other side they could see the beautiful, fruitful promised land.\u00a0 On this side — the wilderness. But how to get from here to there?\u00a0 God said to go across and start taking possession of the land, but this time He didn\u2019t part the water. No bridges and no boats in sight.\u00a0 The troops were waiting behind them, ready to follow them across as God commanded.<\/p>\n
How often we folks who struggle with weight have stood on those banks!\u00a0 We can see the other side — a place where we will feel well and confident. \u00a0But we\u2019re still in the wilderness of clothes that hurt and weariness that keeps us from really living. \u00a0How do we get from here to there?<\/p>\n
The priests simply obeyed God. He said to walk across, and they stepped out.\u00a0 When the water was up to their ankles, the river suddenly dried up.\u00a0 They couldn\u2019t see that several miles upstream, God had diverted the water flow.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it\u2019s like that with us.\u00a0 Have you ever kept going back to your scale like a human yoyo?<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t eat breakfast.\u00a0 Have I lost any weight yet?\u00a0 How about now?\u00a0 It\u2019s been a day.\u00a0 How much have I lost?\u00a0 I gained a pound!\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 I might as well eat cookies.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s our nature to\u00a0 keep looking for results right away, but there are times we have to get our feet wet and wade in up to our ankles first.\u00a0 If we are changing our eating patterns and our lifestyle so we can be gorgeous, we will be impatient and easily discouraged.\u00a0 If we are doing it so we can feel better and live fuller, more active lives, then we can trust that the weight loss will come after we\u2019ve ventured out far enough.\u00a0 We can\u2019t see everything going on inside our bodies. \u00a0Well, actually, we can\u2019t see anything<\/em> going on inside!\u00a0 There are all kinds of things like fluid retention, metabolism slow-down, etc. that can hold the numbers on the scale in the upper reaches.\u00a0 Then we see a sudden, encouraging drop when we stick with it long enough.<\/p>\nWe can trust that if we keep on doing healthy, reasonable things, the weight will leave and we will be happier and healthier.\u00a0 To reach the promised land beyond gorgeous, you have to get your feet wet.\u00a0 Let\u2019s resolve to keep wading, regardless of the numbers on the scale.<\/p>\n
Eating to Live and Living for Christ<\/em><\/p>\nSusan Jordan Brown<\/p>\n
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You know what you want — to be at a healthy, attractive weight. \u00a0But how can you possibly get there? \u00a0It seems too hard, if not down-right impossible. \u00a0I\u2019ve been reading in the book of Joshua for my devotions lately, and I can see some real parallels there between the experiences of the Israelites and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[198,4,197,39,15],"class_list":["post-730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","tag-cookies","tag-diet","tag-joshua","tag-scripture","tag-weight-loss"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n