Managing Ups and Downs

Back before Christmas, I stepped on the scales and then read the result: 254.2. For a lot of people that would be a very discouraging number. For me, it was an encouraging number! It meant that I was down from the 258 that I weighed before Thanksgiving.

Whether or not something is encouraging depends on the base line by which we measure it. That's true in weight management; that's true in life management.

Its easy to let things that ought be be encouraging become discouraging simply because we apply the wrong base line. For example, on Sunday, my scales reported my weight at 247.6 pounds. On Monday, I went to the YMCA and worked out for an hour. It was the first time I'd engaged in intentional strength-building/fat reduction exercise in years! I worked on my major muscle groups - upper body, lower body, and abdomen. At the end of the workout, I felt tired, but in a very good way. Tuesday morning I stepped on the scales and the reading was 249.6.

What??!! I worked out yesterday! Burned more calories; ate good foods. How could I have gained two pounds??

I was easily discouraged by the numbers, but only because I applied the wrong base line. If my base line wasn't what the scales showed on Tuesday but what the scales showed before Thanksgiving, I'm still losing weight. That's encouraging. I need to take into consideration that I weighed myself at two different times of the day. One day was before breakfast; the second was after breakfast, and that can make a difference in the reading. Because I worked out, my body may have decided it needed to keep the extra water that I drank so that my blood would flow into the muscles and do the work needed to actually make them stronger. That can make a difference in the reading.

Different base line; different result! Now, I'm encouraged by the fact that I did all those good things this week - what the scales showed me on Tuesday doesn't change those good things!

In my prayer and devotional time, I remembered my Christ-centered affirmations: Because Jesus Christ is living in me, I enjoy the exercise and nutrition necessary to honor God through my body.

The ups and downs that come with weight loss efforts are numerous. The variables that affect weight measurements are complicated and interconnected. Therefore, I have to keep all of them in mind so that I consider the appropriate base lines for evaluation.

This principle is also true for life. That's the application that I draw from Matthew 7:1-6.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

"With the measure you use, it will be measured to you..." Doesn't that sound like a base line? With what base line do we dare to draw conclusions about life? Whatever base line we use cannot be the same as what God will use. We are finite and imperfect; God is infinite and perfect. Therefore, we ought to leave the base line to God and seek to be encouragers in all things. It's harder than discouragement, but the rewards are immensely greater!

Your thoughts?