After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked… {John 5:1-9}
When I was little, we sang a song in Sunday school that had a line which said, “excuses, excuses, you hear them every day, the devil will supply if from church you’ll stay away…”
Excuses are one the biggest chains the devil wants to put around your feet. If he can shackle you to believing even just one excuse, then he can keep you stuck in an unhealthy cycle. Excuses keep us from taking responsibility for our health. Ultimately when we believe excuses about our health, we are handing our victory to the enemy.
Excuses could include things like:
• I have no will power
• I can’t lose weight because I don’t have time
• I can’t afford a gym membership
• My family really needs me right now
• I’m too busy at work to fit in cooking healthy meals
• I’ll start when my schedule slows down
This man that we read about in John 5 (above) gave Jesus an excuse for why he hadn’t been able to get well in 38 years!
This guy literally could not walk himself to the healing water, but his reasoning sounds a lot like that of someone putting off health. He blamed others. He claimed that someone always got in his way, when he tried to get to the water.
That mindset of passing blame kept him sitting in the same place, day after day, month after month, year after year, just wishing things were different.
I used to go to a private trainer and on the wall of her gym was the saying, “Excuses or results, but not both.”
The thing about excuses is that they always lead us to procrastination.
Excuses manifest into procrastination through things like fear, anxiety, blame, shame, guilt, time, money, ability…the list can go on and on, but every single excuse keeps us stuck in a trap of bondage.
Excuses and procrastination leave us feeling powerless because we hand power over to the excuse instead of drawing power from God Who can give us the ability to overcome any circumstance.
Sometimes our excuses actually grow out of valid reasons, but when we allow our circumstances to keep us bound to living in a way that isn’t God’s best for us, then we are allowing the enemy to have more power in our life than we are giving to God.
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God… {2 Corinthians 3:5}
Corinthians tells us that in Jesus we have the power to take responsibility for our actions. Jesus is our sufficiency and when we focus on Him and believe that He will help us, He will give us His strength to accomplish living lives in which we make healthy choices and use the self-control He promised He would give us. Included in that is the choice to squash excuse making habits and procrastination.
Our direction not our intention gets us where we want to be. We can have good intentions all day long. We can make a meal plan, join a gym and get a nutrition coach, but until we take responsibility for our actions and put ourselves in action, all our intention is just wishful thinking.
Setting ourselves in a direction toward good health is what will get us to a point of good health. It doesn’t matter how many times we “fall off the wagon”, consistent choices over a long period of time will bring consistent results. When you are consistent with your choices, time is on your side.
For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity. {Proverbs 24:16}
When the man we read about in the book of John decided to take his eyes off his excuses for not getting to the water and put his eyes on Jesus, he found healing. The same will be true for you. When you decide to take your eyes off of your circumstances and place them on Jesus, He will help you accomplish your goal of healthy living.
God can break strongholds that have held you for years. Hand him all your excuses today. Let Him move you forward, out of procrastination and into a new path.
If you need help figuring out your health as it relates to nutrition, CONTACT ME. I can show you a path that includes God & gets rid of all diets forever.