The Secret to Falling Out of the "If....Then" Trap

"If only I was 30 pounds lighter then I would be ready to wear this."

"If only I could look like her then I would be more confident."

"If only I had more money then my problems would be solved."

"If only....... INSERT YOUR CONDITIONAL STATEMENT HERE."


I've recently been exploring a different approach to eating that is changing my core beliefs about myself and my value. Everything I have ever thought or taught myself about what I eat and how to eat has been challenged by this idea of "intuitive eating".

Intuitive eating is essentially listening to your body and eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're satisfied. This refers to recognizing food as food and not as "good" or "bad". It is not patting yourself on the back for choosing carrots instead of cookies, or feeling guilty if you choose the cookies instead. It is being in-tune with yourself and not entertaining the thoughts planted by the enemy (last post discusses this in further detail).

Intuitive eating has so many different facets and pieces and parts that revolve around changing your mindset about yourself as a person. Realizing that number on the scale doesn't define who you are and that you can love and accept who you are now instead of waiting to love and accept the person you are 20 pounds from now.

In order to fall out of the "If..Then trap" there is one thing we must learn. It is so important that the enemy will do everything in his power to prevent you from learning and practicing it.

CONTENTMENT.

It is being content right where you are, in the circumstances you are in and the body you have. It is realizing that God created you just as you are and you are a masterpiece.

Contentment is showing myself grace and compassion and appreciating the season of life I am in.

Paul says it best in Philippians 4:11-13.

 "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

He knows the secret to being content in any and every situation is strength of the Lord. This means being satisfied with the house you live in, the car you drive and the job you have. This means being satisfied with the money you make and the clothes you wear. This means being satisfied with the body I have, even after gaining weight.

We can be content with what we have and where we are right now through the Lord who gives us strength and the Spirit to do so.

The enemy of contentment is comparison. Comparison stems from judgment.This is where conditional statements come from. It is when we are looking to find contentment or satisfaction somewhere outside ourselves; such as in a material possession or financial gain.

We can't find contentment in the outside world, and doing so is like chasing the wind.

"I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;  I refused my heart no pleasure.My heart took delight in all my labor and this was the reward for all my toil.Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;nothing was gained under the sun." Ecclesiastes 2:10-11.

Sometimes we get busy trying to do everything we can to try to fill that void, so we start to tell ourselves "If only this, then I will be satisfied". 

You don't have to wait, your "If only" is here. You can choose to be content right now through your relationship with Jesus.

This relationship starts with accepting He died for you and knowing that through Him you have the same Spirit that raised Jesus out of the grave inside of you. 

"The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you". Romans 8:11

Falling out of the "If.. then" trap starts with the Spirit inside of us that gives us the strength to remain content in all circumstances. We can be content when we don't compare and we can stop comparing by not judging.

The same grace that God showed us we need to show ourselves, forgive ourselves of the past and move on. Contentment is a choice we make moment by moment by accepting and loving ourselves just as God accepts and love us.

Contentment can only be achieved by calling on the power of the Holy Spirit to provide the strength we need to remain satisfied in the season we are in.

Dear friends, I challenge you, (just as I challenge myself) that this week we will lean towards accepting instead of judging or comparing where we are to where we think we are supposed to be. Let us choose contentment in each moment and ask the Lord for the peace that only he can bring.

God Bless, and Happy Easter!

Part 2 of 3: The Transformation Process

Ok so I am finally ready to write the next part of the series, LET GOD.

We talked about trusting God in the first part and now we are going to talk about what happens after we have decided to trust, not taking the thing we surrendered back and trying to do things for ourselves.

So I woke up this morning with a strong desire to run. Like more than just a wishful thinking type desire, I had this feeling that running was going to put me closer to God. (I know it's weird, but I ended up "running with it"- pun intended) As I was running and reflecting when I made it 2.5 miles to the lake, the idea for this post came to me.

We've probably all heard the phrase "Let go and let God", and I am sure that you agree that this is easier said than done. In theory, being ready for a change and surrendering everything, including your stubborn self and fleshly ways COMPLETELY to God is a beautiful thing, but in reality it is a messy thing.

We are born again with the spirit inside of us, so now not only do we have our human nature but we also have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Again, this is a beautiful blessing to be able to walk by the Spirit, but it is a little more complicated than that. 

Have you ever just been spiritually exhausted? Like tired of fighting this battle in your head over and over again? Surrendering a part of you to God only to take it back out of fear? I've talked about fear in several blog posts, but I really want to talk about this battle going on inside of you.

When the Spirit is inside of us, there is a war that wages in us. This war, at the core is God vs. Evil. It is God against the world, the desires of the flesh and the advancements of the enemy. We know from Ephesians 6:12:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

So this includes temptations of the flesh and attacks from the enemy himself. What this has to do with letting God is that we can not fight this battle on our own, in fact if we try to fight this battle in our strength we will be defeated, so we need to LET GOD so he can fight the battle for us complete the transformation within us.

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:11.

So God wants to work in us to complete his purpose in us, but we get sidetracked and bogged down with this "veil of responsibility". We don't need to carry these weights, or burdens or hassles or stresses, we have our Heavenly Father to take the weight off of our shoulders for us. Human nature leans towards wanting an answer for everything and we also want to be able to control what happens to us and our circumstances, but in reality we don't control our lives, God does. Now I know there is the topic of free will (and it is quite a hot topic!) But my main idea here is that when we LET GOD we realize that he is in control.

In fact, the very notion that we can LET GOD take over and carry our burdens is a choice itself. We choose to take on our problems or pray and give them to God. 

So if we make a choice to let God lead our lives, can we also choose to live by the Spirit?

YES. A THOUSAND TIMES YES. We choose to live and walk by the Spirit. Each tiny decision you make is either Spirit-driven or Self-driven. The only sense of control you need is the control you feel when you decide to submit your life to Christ.

Run with me for a minute with this, when we surrender to God and let him lead in each area of our life, the stresses of doing everything ourselves melt away and it allows us to keep running the race.

"let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us," Hebrews 12:1

Of course, In the process of not trying to fix things ourselves or control our circumstances, the enemy comes after us. He is ready to again tell us that we can't do this and that it is a lost cause. The good news is that just like we control surrendering our worries and troubles to God, we also control the ability for Satan to attack our mind. Consider 2 Corinthian 10:5:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Take captive every thought, we can do this by asking ourselves some truths behind what we are thinking. First we know the enemy came to "steal, kill and destroy" so my dear friend came up with these questions to ask yourself when you feel you might be thinking some questionable thoughts.

1. Does this steal my joy?
2. Does this kill my contentment?
3. Does this destroy my peace?

Guess what? If the answer is yes to any of the questions, WE DON"T HAVE TO CONTINUE WITH THAT THOUGHT! Instead we can choose to reaffirm the truth and kill that thought planted by the enemy. Actually, every negative thought we have we can make obedient to Christ by aligning it with the truth of the grace and love of God.

Again I thought I was going a completely different direction with this post, but alas, it is heavy on my heart to let you know that you are not a prisoner in your mind and you don't have to entertain thoughts that steal your joy, kill your contentment or destroy your peace.

LET GOD take over in your life. LET GOD handle the problems and worries you face. LET GOD show you His way. LET GOD defeat the enemy within you. LET GOD quiet your fleshly desires. LET GOD so you may live by the spirit.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16

Thanks for reading friends! Please also check out my website butterflybeginnings.net for more on how I can empower you on your spiritual journey! I am offering 3 FREE coaching sessions to help you get on the right track, please email stephanie@butterflybeginnings.net to get started!