A couple weeks ago, I went to the doctor to get my test results regarding my cholesterol. I have to tell you I went in feeling pretty confident. I was pretty sure he was going to tell me that I was fine, and I could keep doing what I was doing. One of my biggest weaknesses is food. I love being able to eat whatever I want to without gaining any weight. (I can hear some of you snarling at me reading those words, but hold your snarls. They may soon turn to chuckles.)
My worst fear became reality as the doctor unpacked the report that I would no longer be able to eat whatever I wanted to whenever I wanted to. As he handed me the pamphlet of the do's and don'ts of eating, I started having an out-of-body experience right there in his office. If he was talking, I didn't know it. I was...gone. Flashes of floating rice cakes, lettuce and bran muffins were popping up everywhere. Was I really going to have to start eating those things some of my friends were trying to get me to eat - things I could neither pronounce nor find the country they were from. Was I going to have to eat Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast every day? Was I having a nervous breakdown over food?
As I've been dealing with the emotions and feelings of shock and awe of my cholesterol, God has been revealing some of his own startling and surprising reports regarding the state of my spiritual health.
Parallel 1: Both are a reality that shouldn't be ignored
Like a stealth fighter jet quietly flying underneath the radar, cholesterol can go unnoticed for a long time and then seemingly out of nowhere we can find ourselves on a rolling hospital bed in transport to the ER. We can't go through life ignoring the facts regarding our bodies and how they function. The fact about cholesterol is that we all have it. We all have a number, and whether we got the blood test or not, it's there. It's a reality.
It wasn't wise for me to eat whatever I wanted and thinking that it wasn't harming my body. Sometimes I think I'm superman or have some special forcefields that protect me from everything. A part of me still believes that I could never die. I sometimes imagine a car hitting me or an airplane going down and I always end up surviving, always by my own athleticism (can't everyone jump right before the plane hits the ground?). But the fact is, I'm not super human - I'm very human, which means I need a Savior - every day and for everything. We can't go through life thinking that our relationship with God is fine and healthy if we're ignoring the facts regarding how that relationship works best. Sometimes, I just forget that having a relationship with God is a lot like having a relationship with anyone else. The depth of the relationship and how much we want to get to know or be involved with that other person is a 50/50 thing. Relationships take intentionality, time and effort if we want them to be meaningful and lasting. But like our health, our cholesterol, we can pretend that we're all right, that everything's going to work itself out (that God's miraculously going to change the Twinkie that I just ate into a pear). We ignore what we desperately need to focus our attention on.
What's going on underneath your skin, beneath your surface? Is everything flowing the way it should, or is stuff starting to form in places it shouldn't? Maybe it's time to take inventory, to test ourselves, to allow God's light into every crevice and artery. Maybe it's time to take some daily doses of His Word, swallow it, and allow it to reach our day-to-day living. Maybe it's time to stop doing certain things that just aren't healthy and start doing things that are. Maybe it's time to stop being stubborn - to just go to the Healer and allow Him to examine us, diagnose our issues and receive His wisdom and direction.
Remember, like our cholesterol, God is a reality, and He wants to cleanse, refresh, and strengthen our hearts. Allow Him today to help with the blockage, with the clogged arteries of your spiritual health so that He can flow more freely and abundantly through you.
Psalm 1:3 Amplified
And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].
My worst fear became reality as the doctor unpacked the report that I would no longer be able to eat whatever I wanted to whenever I wanted to. As he handed me the pamphlet of the do's and don'ts of eating, I started having an out-of-body experience right there in his office. If he was talking, I didn't know it. I was...gone. Flashes of floating rice cakes, lettuce and bran muffins were popping up everywhere. Was I really going to have to start eating those things some of my friends were trying to get me to eat - things I could neither pronounce nor find the country they were from. Was I going to have to eat Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast every day? Was I having a nervous breakdown over food?
As I've been dealing with the emotions and feelings of shock and awe of my cholesterol, God has been revealing some of his own startling and surprising reports regarding the state of my spiritual health.
Parallel 1: Both are a reality that shouldn't be ignored
Like a stealth fighter jet quietly flying underneath the radar, cholesterol can go unnoticed for a long time and then seemingly out of nowhere we can find ourselves on a rolling hospital bed in transport to the ER. We can't go through life ignoring the facts regarding our bodies and how they function. The fact about cholesterol is that we all have it. We all have a number, and whether we got the blood test or not, it's there. It's a reality.
It wasn't wise for me to eat whatever I wanted and thinking that it wasn't harming my body. Sometimes I think I'm superman or have some special forcefields that protect me from everything. A part of me still believes that I could never die. I sometimes imagine a car hitting me or an airplane going down and I always end up surviving, always by my own athleticism (can't everyone jump right before the plane hits the ground?). But the fact is, I'm not super human - I'm very human, which means I need a Savior - every day and for everything. We can't go through life thinking that our relationship with God is fine and healthy if we're ignoring the facts regarding how that relationship works best. Sometimes, I just forget that having a relationship with God is a lot like having a relationship with anyone else. The depth of the relationship and how much we want to get to know or be involved with that other person is a 50/50 thing. Relationships take intentionality, time and effort if we want them to be meaningful and lasting. But like our health, our cholesterol, we can pretend that we're all right, that everything's going to work itself out (that God's miraculously going to change the Twinkie that I just ate into a pear). We ignore what we desperately need to focus our attention on.
What's going on underneath your skin, beneath your surface? Is everything flowing the way it should, or is stuff starting to form in places it shouldn't? Maybe it's time to take inventory, to test ourselves, to allow God's light into every crevice and artery. Maybe it's time to take some daily doses of His Word, swallow it, and allow it to reach our day-to-day living. Maybe it's time to stop doing certain things that just aren't healthy and start doing things that are. Maybe it's time to stop being stubborn - to just go to the Healer and allow Him to examine us, diagnose our issues and receive His wisdom and direction.
Remember, like our cholesterol, God is a reality, and He wants to cleanse, refresh, and strengthen our hearts. Allow Him today to help with the blockage, with the clogged arteries of your spiritual health so that He can flow more freely and abundantly through you.
Psalm 1:3 Amplified
And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].
Comments
From one skinny person to another, I totally get you on this one!!! On both levels. Thanks for your thoughts. It was a good reminder of reality. ;)
May you have good health,spirit,soul and body.
I really enjoy your "letters". They are funny as well as excellent teaching moments. Thanks for taking the time to write!