Satan works out at my gym

diaryofadreamer.com

I have recently made a vow to better my physical health.  After returning from Seattle, Washington in late March, I decided that my health had to become more serious to me.  By neglecting my health I was stealing years away from the Lord.  My sin and failure to obey the command to honor my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit began taking its toll.  I felt tired all of the time and my self confidence surrounding my body image was fairly low.  (Wow, this blogging thing totally makes me vulnerable.  Am I nuts to be sharing this stuff?)  I knew it was time to take action.

I began to eat healthfully and go to the gym a couple times per week.  I'll be honest in admitting that I was not really putting forth any genuine effort.  I was lying to myself.  At my job we call this "self deceptive enhancement" (SDE) - we enhance our opinion of our actions by minimizing and justifying our inappropriate actions or failure to take appropriate actions, therefore lying to ourselves.  "I can speed and drive safely" is an example of SDE.  I am so thankful for Lauren, who lovingly pointed out my SDE (though she didn't call it that, thank God) and made me commit to exercising a certain amount of times per week.

Lauren really had to push me to get to the gym today.  I was not feeling it.  After I resolved to get my rear out the door to get to my gym, the enemy began his work.  While I was putting on my gym clothes, he started telling me that I was wholly inadequate.  He then accused God, saying that if He were truly a provider then I would not have to work as hard as I do to pay bills and enjoy my life.  I continued to get dressed.  He then started to attack my personal relationships, saying that no one could genuinely love me and if they did it would be an act of compromise.  I put on my sneakers.  He assaulted my self-esteem, telling me that I am wasting my time because I had a piece of pizza today.  See Stephen, you'll always love pizza more than you do your health!  I walked to my car, turned on the engine and left my driveway.  This continued throughout the ride to the gym and while I was exercising.  I plead the blood of Jesus over my life and asked the Lord to protect my mind and heart.  I asked Him to war on my behalf.  And I didn't feel some big rush of peace after doing this.  I continued on and knew in faith that God would answer my prayer.  Still, it became so draining for me that after running my mile on the treadmill and a little bit of lifting (not nearly as much as I wanted to do), I left the gym.

The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus has come to bring us life (John 10:10).  Any step that you take in a direction that brings forth life, love and obedience to the Lord, the enemy will do all he can to steal from you, kill you and destroy you.  If you do all you can to get to church on Sunday morning, the enemy will be sure that your alarm does not go off or that you really feel like sleeping in.  Put forth an effort to read your Bible in the morning, the boss will be sure to call to ask you to come in early.  Ask the Lord to allow you a romantic evening with your husband or wife, the enemy will do all he can to ensure that the kids are sick that night or the babysitter "just remembered" she has a test the next day and cancels.

Where you are striving to honor the Lord, the enemy is striving to dishonor you.  Guard your heart (Proverbs 4:23), ask the Warrior God to battle on your behalf and rejoice over you (Zephaniah 3:17), and rest in knowing that the Lord will answer your prayers (John 14:13).  True story.