can someone share on this subject!!!

I am researching WLS. I went to my info session last night. Here is my dilema. I am trying to get answers from our Heavenly Father as to whether I should have this done or not. I keep feeling like I should be turning my will...my life...my weight and my food over to him. I believe that He can do for me what I cannot do for myself. So...I ask myself..."Where does WLS fit in"? Thanks for reading and hopefully sharing your experienc with me. Gail

Girlfriend..as a Christian woman who had WLS I look at it this way...I have tried traditional methods to no avail...my primary care Dr. suggested I seek this...so I prayed and then some friends said...Joan if you had breast cancer would you not seek the best procedure possible to lead to a cure...well yes...what about heart disease...yes....so why does society say you can do this on your own w/o help? Well, we can in some instances but extremely obese people it has been proven have not been able to lose and...and....keep it off. So I prayed and asked for the Lord to close the door if this was not His way for me personally. And He opened the doors for me sooo fast that I knew it was from Him...Remember nothing can thwart His plan....if this wasn't meant for me then He would have closed the doors. He is afterall the Creator of the UNiverse and nothing is too hard or impossible for Him. And if we seek Him He says we will be found of Him. That is my opinion and how I found peace with God in this...hope that helps. In His love and grace, Joan M

Gail, Like Joan, I too prayed about it and had my Sunday School class pray for me also. I asked the Lord to close the doors if this was not meant to be for me. Well, insurance paid for all of it. The only thing I had to pay for was my psych eval. So, my advice is to continue to pray and ask Him to open or close doors as He sees fit. God bless! Shel

Joan and Shel, thanks so much for your reply. It has helped alot. I am very new on my journey to follow Christ...but it is people like you guys that are helping me to have more faith. Love..Gail

Hey Gail I was born in Brooklyn Park MD and lived in Dundalk for a while adn Eastern Shore for a while too....I know the Lord will help you as you seek Him and His wisdom... just read teh Word of God, attend a good Bible teaching church and obey what He says and growth will come. I want to continue to grow until I see Him face to face! He will direct your steps for sure...Proverb 3:5-6. In His love and never ending grace, Joan M

Like the others who have replied before me, I tried everything else. I even went to eating disorder treatment for two months, three days a week for four hours a day. I lost a few pounds, but then it stalled. I prayed and asked the Lord to guide me if WLS was for me. He opened the doors so fast, I got my insurance approval within a few days of my consult. Everything fell into place, so that six weeks after my consult, I was given a date for surgery. I had such a peace about it, I just praise Him for the whole process. WLS is not a cure. It is a tool that allows us to control our portions and eliminate fats and sugars. I still go to support groups at the hospital where the surgery was done. I still have to pray and seek the Lord for my portions and my food choices. I still have to trust Him for everything. I must stay obedient about fats and make sure I eat my proteins. The Lord is very much an integral part of my eating and exercise program. I hope this helps. Hugs, Trish

I definitely feel that Christ expects full submission by us. He wants us to render Him everything about our lives. That's a good thing.....our part is to let go of the burden and trust Him to carry it for us. If WLS is in His journey for your life He will direct you....believe me. I know this first hand! luvitsunnyv

Hi Gail, This is the answer I give when people ask if this alright with God. It is what The lord led me to when I was pre-op and praying about it. I hope it helps you as muh as it helped me. May God bless you always, Annette If you are looking for Biblical answers to your questions, God gave us the answers. The others are correct in saying that God doesn't make mistakes. What He did do was give us free choice. Most of us have not used that free choice very well. The Lord always provides a way out. In the case of obesity he provided the knowledge of W.L.S. in the medical community. If you still are having doubt's, then please Pray about it, and Read Matthew 5:29. Then read Matthew 18:9. Then perhaps you could read starting at Mark 9:43 which says(and I quote from the N.I.V.) "and if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into Hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet, and be thrown into Hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes, and be thrown into Hell, where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched"." Now the Bible is telling us that if our body part's are causing us to sin then we should cut them off, or pluck them out. Is that fair to say? Yes. We as S.M.O., M.O., and obese people Are using our stomach's for sin (the sin of gluttony), therefore we should cut them off. That is what we are doing through our surgeons. Right? So what I say is ~If your stomach causes you to sin ~ cut it off, It is better to enter into life with a pouch, than than have a giant stomach and be thrown into Hell. I hope this helps. God bless you, Annette

Gail, Been there, and done that!! When I prayed, I felt like you, but God definitely led me to have this surgery so I could get my life back and be healthy for Him, and to be able to serve Him. It is not a sin to have this hold over you, it is just part of human nature and the flesh is strong. God said to me "I have led you here, and I made the surgeons and the surgery to save lives". Then when I was a week away from surgery I almost chickened out. I felt guilty for not being able to crucify my flesh, but God told me that I could either Feed my Faith or my fear. I chose to feed my faith, and the faith I had that he brought me this far not to let me go back. I totally had a peace about it, and the story I liken this to goes like this: There was a family who had a daughter who was fighting for her life. She laid in a coma, and all hope was lost. They prayed and prayed for a miracle. A doctor walked into the room and said she was going to give her an injection. The father refused and said, God is going to bring me a miracle, and we are waiting for that, but thanks! Another doctor came in and said, I think I have a cure for your daughter, and the man again refused and said he was waiting on God to bring the miracle from Heaven that God had promised him and his wife to save his daughter, so the doctor left. Once more another doctor came in and said I have the cure for your daughter, let me operate! The father once again said, No, God promised us a miracle and we are waiting. The girl died. When the man asked God, "why??" God said, I sent you not 1, not 2, but 3 miracles to save your daughter, but you refused them. That story always came to my mind when I asked God why I couldn't have enough will power. It might not be the way we think it should be. God is trying to give you the way to save your life and to take back your healthy through this surgery. This is not a weak way to lose weight, or a wrong way, or unhealthy. This is the vehicle my Lord chose to help me get my life back so I could serve Him, and I will never regret or be sad I chose WLS to save my life. I just want everyone to know that God made Doctors, Nurses, Surgical procedures and medicines to help us, because that is how He intended to help us Don't fret, and remember, Fear cannot live in the same room/body as Faith!! Fear MUST flee when Faith is abounding!! God Bless, and don't over analyze it....just go for it!! You don't want to miss your visitation from the Lord the way the Israel Children did Deb