What does God see when He looks at you? I propose He looks at you through spectacular lenses of grace. If so, what does that mean? In actuality, we really don’t comprehend grace. Its a divine quality that eludes us most of the time. It is never failing, unending, without measure and beyond the scope of human understanding.
Today, though, I got a momentary glimpse into what God is up to with this thing called grace. And it required wearing a different pair of glasses.
Understands Our Struggles
Let me explain. I am a weight loss transformation coach, as well as an author and speaker. I am so proud of the women in Sweet Change Weight Loss Group. So far, with only 10 reporting, they have lost 65 pounds in January. There are more women to report in and I know the numbers will continue to increase. These are phenomenal results.
When we report our total weight loss as a group, we also post non-scale victories. The recurring theme was spending more devotional time with God, exercising and daily walking, giving up sugar or desserts with sugar, beginning to see food as fuel and accepting the fact that they are not on a diet but are incorporating lifestyle changes. These are victories that make me as a coach want to jump for joy!
See, I know their struggles. I know the setbacks. I know the emotional turmoil they have gone through to get to this point. And yet, I also was able to see clearly from the very beginning their breakthroughs if they would stay the course. To see that I have to put on glasses of compassion and understanding, two gifts God gave me as tools for this journey.
As each person comes into the group, I know they are facing an uphill battle. They’ve been facing it all their lives. The struggle seems to be against their own bodies. However, that is not the real source of the struggle.
Grace in the Struggle
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”1
This process involves working on the inside. When the work on the inside starts, the outside begins to be affected. As the coach, I know how the process worked in me, but to see it work in others is much more thrilling than even my own transformation journey.