Please Pray for Me

I throw myself down on my knees each day, several times a day. I beg God to forgive me for making a mess of this body that he so graciously gave me. I have abused it and it is no longer the same body that he gave me. I pray that the Lord's will is for me to have the surgery and that I may return to the body that I was originally given, to live out the rest of my life in total gratitude and worship of Him. He did not give me this body to morbidly stretch to the limits. How am I to be His servant when I can hardly get around on these two fat legs. I would ask that you pray to God that his will be shown. It is only by his will whether I have this surgery or whether all doors will be shut in front of me. Thank you my brothers and sisters in Love and Christ. Marie

Hi Marie, I was just like you. I prayed to the Lord before I started the whole process that if I was doing the surgery for vanity's sake that he would close the door. If I reached one road block I would stop and accept his will. There were so many ministries I wanted to get involved in, but I was so ashamed of my weight that I was afraid to step boldly out for Him. Well, the doors were all wide open and the road to my surgery was effortless. I had surgery in June and I have lost 80 pounds. I am now 170 and I wear a size 12. I am so greatful to our Lord for providing me a second chance at life. I am finally getting to see my dream of going to Africa on a mission trip fulfilled this year. God is so awesome. I love to brag on how wonderful He is. I know he can do the same thing for you. If you hit any roadblocks, maybe he has better timing involved. You can e-mail me anytime if you want to talk or ask questions. I am praying for you. In His love, Sherri

Oh my dear sister in Christ. Thank you for being out there! I am a little confused about roadblocks? Do I stop the minute the insurance company denies me? Do I stop when the insurance company denies my other appeals? Do I just pretend that this may not be the roadblock God meant .. and then do I just go about getting my own financing for this? If the financing goes through, does that mean I was right and should not have stopped two steps back? Just when does stop mean stop? Do I just continue through until I have run to the end. Does he want me to stop the very first time or stop when I finally feel satisfied that I have done all that I can do? After all, it was never me doing it in the first place....does he just want to see how far I will go and how much I want it? Did you have any of these fears? I almost feel like I am not listening to God the first time and skirting around him to get it other ways, but I am also following the footsteps of other Christians that have done this same thing. What are your thoughts? Marie

I don't know how to answer your questions except to say that I prayed for guidance from the Lord. I promised Him if it was the wrong thing for me to do, or if the timing was wrong, that he would close the door and I would not pursue it. I started to do it 4 years ago and my insurance company stopped covering the procedure. Then, last year with new insurance I prayed about it again and decided to try again, and it went effortlessly. I guess the Lord has his timing. I feel that if you are truly seeking His will, that you will know in your heart how far you should pu**** In His love, Sherri

I know exactly how you feel. But what cheers me up is Psalm 139:13,14. God made us. He KNEW we were going to be overweight. God knows our future, he knows our past. He knitted us together. There have been many things in my life that I have taken for granted what God has given me and when I think about it, I'm like, oh dear Lord! Forgive me! And what's great about God is that he forgives us just like that and doesn't hold it against us. I am praying as well that this surgery is what God wants for me, but if it's not, I trust Him. I don't want to do anything that is against God's will. But I've told God I want this. The Bible says to tell God what we want, not to hold back, and I haven't. I just hope He agrees with me and wants me to have it too!!! Marie, you are not alone!! We are with you and God loves you! So do we! Trisha in Arizona

Trisha, God Bless you! I am so glad there are others out there with the same thoughts. The thoughs that we have let God down by abusing the "perfect" body that he specifically created for each and ever one of us. I Truely believe that God wants us to have our perfect body back, but if we look to modern help to make that happen and not our own will, is that cheating in His book? I am confident going into this procedure. I have no fear whatsoever. I just fear that I am sidestepping the Lord and not letting his will be at work and by thinking that it is my will that is making all this happen. "I" tackle the insurance company. "I" tackle the doctors office/test/etc. "I" tackle the time off of work......you know...all that stuff involved. How much of that is me and how much of that is Him?? I know that he forgives me for what I have done to make this body so big, but is he willing to let me get it fixed? Again, thanks for being out there. Your sister in Christ, Marie from Grants Pass, Oregon