Monday, January 17, 2011

Made to Crave: I'll Start Again on Monday


Day 8: I’ll Start Again on Monday
Based on Chapter 2 of Made to Crave

Thought for the Day: “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for  help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you with expectation.” (Psalm 5:1–3)

“I’ll start again on Monday” are the ill-fated words that I’m certain have passed through every woman’s mind since the beginning of time. Whether it’s an excuse regarding our diet, exercise, temper, or devotional time, this phrase cycles through our lives on a regular basis. Or, is it just me?

For example, on a Saturday morning, I head down to my kitchen vowing to do better, eat healthier, and make good choices, only to have my resolve melt like the icing on the cinnamon rolls my daughter pulls from the oven. So I conclude the weekend is the worst time to begin eating healthier and tell myself, “I’ll start again on Monday.”

However, I find myself nagged by the subtle feeling of defeat, disappointment, and frustration. This crushing cycle of powerlessness that I’ve come to hate continues. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wander around on a fruitless path unable to enter into the abundant life God has for me.

Today I challenge you to start a new cycle of making God your focus, rather than food. Each time you crave something you know isn’t part of your plan, use that craving as a prompting to pray. I crave a lot. So I’ve found myself praying a lot. Potato chips and brownies now prompt me to pray! God gave us the gift of prayer to turn our times of desperation into relationship opportunities with Him. This cycle is far more promising than distancing ourselves from His goodness with our own sense of self-loathing and defeat.

For example, when we make God our focus, we can wake up in the morning and say “God, I want a biscuit this morning. Instead, I’m eating poached eggs. I’m thankful for these eggs, but I’ll be honest in saying my cravings for other things are hard to resist. But instead of wallowing in what I can’t have, I’m making the choice to celebrate what I can have.”

What better way to live than fully in today rather than always looking to start over on Mondays!

For more information about Lysa TerKeurst and her book Made to Crave, please visit:
www.MadetoCrave.org.

To purchase this book, Made to Crave please click here.

For information on webcasts, please click here.

3 comments:

Kelli said...

I love this "I head down to my kitchen vowing to do better, eat healthier, and make good choices, only to have my resolve melt like the icing on the cinnamon rolls." Perfect because I havent gone downstairs yet to the kitchen! Thanks for sharing this and for your sweet words of encouragement! You are right, God needs to be the priority whether we are standing in front the frig or on the edge of a bad attitude!

Territory Mom said...

What a powerful and inspiration post. I will work on my cravings today, thank you!!

Lysa TerKeurst said...

Wow! What a journey you have been on! Thank you for your support and encouragement. You look terrific!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...