As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you have the strength to stick it out over the long haul-not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that He has for us. – Colossians 1:11-12

When I used to go on diets I ALWAYS white knuckled it. I could cut back days, weeks, months at a time but it was always such a sacrifice to say no to the double-stuffed whatever-you-call-em. I felt angry that I couldn’t be like the skinny people. Felt sorry for myself that I had to order salad instead of red velvet cake. Hated myself for my lack of self-control. It wouldn’t take long before the old excuses set in;

“You’ve been workin’ so hard you deserve a break.” What? I suppose a KitKat break?
“See, but if you work out for 20 minutes at the gym, that should buy you at least enough calories for a cheeseburger, right?” Yeah. Right. Maybe one of them cheeseburger hors d’oeuvres that you pop in your mouth without chewing.
“Oh, this one little piece won’t kill me.” Yeah. But, the 40 after it might.

Thank GOD I don’t white-knuckle it anymore! God took my craving away as soon as I let him have my compulsion to eat more than what is healthy. As soon as I admitted powerlessness over the snickers and pizza rolls, He granted me the glory-strength promised in the scripture above. Not because I am special. Because He is just that awesome. And He can give YOU the strength to endure whatever you are going through too. A broken marriage. Debt up to your elbows. The kids that you would die for are slowly killing you with their poor choices. Nothing is too big or too little for God to grant you strength to overcome.

God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son He loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating. -Colossians 1:13-14