For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.

Philippians 2:13

I read the quote below on a friend’s social media page a few years ago and it’s stuck with me ever since:

You cannot become who you are meant to be and remain who used to be.

Any time it pops into my mind, Philippians 2:13 pops right up behind it.

You see, when God is working in me, it’s not always work that I’m super keen on doing.

For a long time I would feel God’s nudge to get to work on an area of my life and I would say back to Him, “I hear you God. I know I’m too tired to serve You as well as I could because of the extra weight I’m carrying around and I know the extra weight comes from poor eating and a sedentary lifestyle, but dieting is just so hard and I don’t have time to exercise and do all the other things I want/need to do.”

God and I had this talk for over year. When I finally came clean with God and with myself, I realized that I was resisting God’s work in me because dieting and exercise seemed unpleasant and I usually became discouraged when I tried and I just didn’t want to make the effort or the time to do them and fail again.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure we’ve all been there.

Maybe not with weight or laziness, but we all have things God wants to work on with us and because they aren’t enjoyable or they take us out of our comfort zone or they require us to sacrifice something, we decide we’d rather not jump into the work with Him.

Then – oh sweet friends – then we wallow in conviction and we bulk like spoiled children who have been given a chore they don’t want to do.

Tell me you’ve never had that experience and I’ll tell you to check that you’re still living in a body made of flesh.

BUT…

You thought I was going to say BUT GOD didn’t you?

Nah, let’s shake it up today. I’m going to point that little conjunction at us instead.

BUT what if WE looked at the work that God does in us as an opportunity instead of as a chore, as growth instead of change. What if we viewed becoming less selfish as an opportunity to become more Christ-like? What if we saw healthier eating as an opportunity to live more fully instead of as a requirement to enjoy less food?

I love every statement that begins with BUT God because it reminds me that God can turn any situation around, overcome any challenge, that He overturns all that is bad and makes it good. BUT sometimes, we also have to use that BUT to turn ourselves around to be more fruitful in His service.

I used to like to watch an hour or three of TV every evening, BUT I started growing more when I unplugged from Netflix and plugged into my family, God’s Word, and service and fellowship.

I used to eat too much when I was stressed or celebrating or just had a weird day, BUT I know now that I live more fully when I seek more comfort and enjoyment in God than I seek in food.

When I stopped bulking at the work God wanted to do in me, I lost 80 pounds and 6 clothing sizes and gained energy and focus and new outlook on life in general.

You see, it is God who works in us to help us want to obey Him more, serve Him more. BUT when we fight that work with our selfish desires or fleshly habits, we impede becoming who He made us to be.

Beloved, we cannot cling to who we used to be and become someone new, BUT we can surrender to God’s will and the work He is doing in us to continually become someone more like Christ.