~ Written by Rosa Muñoz
It all started with a wake-up call in July of 2015: extreme unexplained abdominal pain, gastritis, and fatty deposits in my liver. At that stage of life, I couldn’t find an answer to my physical problems. One day, desperate, I fell to my knees and cried out to God for wisdom.
I heard God speak to my heart, “Rosa Lydia, start walking and change your eating habits, and you will have better health.” I decided to set up short-term goals to become more active physically and to lose my extra weight. I began by walking three days a week for the first month; the second I added much more activity. As the months passed, I began to see changes in my health.
Two passages helped me keep going: Hebrews 12:1-2 and Romans 12:1-2. Although I am not physically running, I can say that God has allowed me to live and see good results in this new endeavor. During this difficult process, He has given me strength, wisdom, and energy to celebrate small victories in the loss of thirty pounds. I realized how much my physical health was affecting my emotional state, and that I needed to be a better steward of this body God has given me.
I have come to understand that being intentional, persistent, and totally dependent on God will give me the power to keep running toward the goal.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (ESV)
Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c]but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
[…] Running Toward The Goal […]