Day 3

Wonderfully Made!

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well- Psalm 139:14 NLT

I pray you took the first step and took your before photo.  If you didn’t, please do so.  If you did, it’s time to take it out now.

 I took eleven sets of before photos in the three years it took me to learn how to lose weight safely, effectively, and permanently.  Eleven before photos, and 2 after photos.  I had two after photos because as many of you can identify with, I gained back the weight I had lost after my first set of after photos.  I had eleven before photos because, again, as many of you can identify with, I would start out all excited about my latest diet and take my photos, only to lose heart and quit.  Nine of the before photos look pretty much the same (I told you that you were not alone in this struggle!).

So it says in the verse above that we are wonderful works, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  I don’t know about you, but that is definitely not how I felt every time I looked at my before photo.  It was more like “I am fearful of this muffin top”, “I wonder if this back fat will ever go away”, and lastly, “Lord help me, I am a piece of work (but not in a good way)”.  No, I could not receive this verse as I looked at my before photos. 

Now other weight loss programs will tell you to write down how you feel when you look at your before photo, and to be honest with you, my initial plan was to have you do the same.  The idea is for you to fully see where you are at and to meditate on how much you hate what you see in hopes that it will drive you to this place of willingness.  Willingness to do whatever it takes to lose the weight.  However, as I shared, I did this 11 times and only twice did it work (well, really only once because the first time I obviously still didn’t learn because I gained it back again).

One of the biggest mental shifts that made before photo set number 11 work is that I quit looking at myself with self loathing, and started seeing myself as fearfully and wonderfully made.  You see, when you receive and believe what God’s Word says about you, it slowly melts away every hurtful word you and others have said about you.  When you stop and meditate on the fact that you are fearfully and wonderfully made, you will find you have the desire to act fearfully and wonderfully made.  You will stop punishing yourself.  You will stop giving in to the food cravings.  You will stop because instead of thinking “I’ll never get it right”, you will think “I am a piece of God’s work.  I’m not letting that donut get the best of me!”. 

So Girls, go ahead, take a look at your before photo.  Acknowledge that it is not your best, but then rejoice in knowing that you are in fact fearfully and wonderfully made.  Praise God for creating you, and ask Him to reveal to you the wonderful Girl inside!

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for creating me so fearfully and wonderfully.  I thank you that you care about how I feel when I look at pictures of myself.  I ask you Lord to reveal to me how wonderful I am.  I ask you to help me receive your Word and to keep it guarded in my heart.  I ask you to help me make the necessary changes so my picture lines up with your Word.  Please speak to my heart and show me what needs to be done. In Jesus’ name, Amen.