Ha. Do I have your attention now? :)

Seriously though – I bet all of you have Googled that at some point. I did, just three days ago. My first DietBet was about to end, and I was 0.20 pounds away from my goal weight. What?? No. I was not going to lose my game because of 0.20 pounds. So I did what any normal human being would do and Googled “how to lose a pound overnight.”

27 articles and three hours later, I had taken a long walk with my husband, drank about a gallon of water (and consequently had to pee every 20 minutes, literally), and was halfway through smearing a bizarre concoction of Epsom salt, green tea, and coconut oil all over my abdomen when I had to pause for a moment.

What was I doing?

I looked at the coconut oil running down my leg and couldn’t help but laugh. I was so intent on not losing my $40 bet that I resorted to cramming in a bunch of tricks at the very last minute. The bulk of my results didn’t happen overnight. They came through weeks of concentrated effort and discipline.

I was suddenly struck by the parallel to my daily walk with Lord. How often do I want quick results, immediate answers? So often, I’m not willing to put in the day-to-day work in the relationship, but when something unexpected happens, I dive frantically back into the Word looking for “signs” and pray fervently that God would give me the answers I need in His timing, as long as His timing is in the next couple of hours.

My ridiculous attempt at ‘getting skinny quick’ revealed that little pieces of the old Laura were still stubbornly trying to grow back like weeds inside my heart. In the two seconds it took me to step onto the scale, I became 15-year-old Laura all over again, body issues and all. I subconsciously believed that if I could lose enough weight, I would finally be content with how I looked. But if my contentment isn’t held fast in Christ, I will NEVER be completely satisfied. Ultimately, my identity is not found in my ability to lose weight. It’s in the Lord, the One who created my body and heart and mind and spirit with the purpose of glorifying Himself through them.

God is so good to us, guys. He knows we have trust issues, patience issues, and diligence issues. Even when we treat Him like a pair of fat jeans that we only put on as a last resort when we reeeeeally need them, He is there all along. My prayer for myself – and for you! – is that we see Him as worthy of pursuing, that we view our relationships with Him as SO NECESSARY that we don’t wait until the last minute to come to Him.

The funniest thing? I lost that pound anyway. God definitely has sense of humor.

P.S. Since I lured you in with my obnoxious clickbait title, I’ll make it worth your while. Here’s the stuff I tried:

• taking a walk to burn calories
• constantly drinking water
• watching my salt intake
• that DIY salt/tea/oil body wrap from The Kitchen Prescription (I’m convinced this is what worked because I wore it while watching Finding Neverland, which made me cry about half a bucket {aka a pound} of tears)

What made you click on this post? Are you struggling just like me? Is your identity found in Christ, or in yourself? Don’t despair – God created you and loves you, right where you are, right now. Be encouraged!