S2. E5. Navigating the desire for weight loss
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[00:00:00] And here's the thing. Scripture says that promotion comes from the Lord. Promotion does not come from your weight, so anything that you are searching for, anything that you are hoping that weight loss will do for you, the Lord can do for you and he can do it for you at your current size as well.
Welcome to Your Daily Bread podcast. I'm your host, Abbie Stasior, a registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor. My prayer is that these bite-sized episodes will help you heal your relationship with food and improve body image, as well as help you grow closer to God. Now, I can't personally heal you, but each week I'll be directing you to the one that can, and that is Jesus.
As a disclaimer, I'm not a pastor, but a sister in Christ providing you with some food for thought for you to bring to the Lord and into your quiet time as your daily bread. Let's dig in.[00:01:00] [00:02:00]
Hello. Hello. Welcome back to Your Daily Bread podcast. I am so excited for today's episode because this is a highly, highly, highly requested topic. We are gonna be talking about navigating the desire. For weight loss, I get asked all the time, Abby, is the desire for weight loss bad? I'm trying this intuitive eating thing.
I'm trying to care less about what the number on the scale says, is it bad that I still have this desire to lose weight? And what I used to say is, I don't think that the desire for weight loss is bad. I think it's pretty natural in our society. Just given, how there's so much [00:03:00] pressure on us, especially as women, to be striving for thinness, but if you're doing disordered things to lose weight, that's where it becomes a slippery slope.
We don't want this desire for weight loss to be so strong right now, it's driving us to do very disordered things. However, after spending more time with Jesus. And getting in the word, really getting into the scripture that I'm about to read from. We're gonna be in Mark 10 today. I have a different answer to that question so I'll pray us in.
Father God, thank you so much for this day. Lord, we just praise you and thank you that you have given us another day, Lord, and able bodies. Lord, we praise you for the health that we have, Lord and that you have chosen our bodies. As your eternal dwelling place. Lord, I pray that as we enter your word.
That it is illuminated. Lord, there's things that just stick out to people that have not been illuminated before. And I pray that it [00:04:00] hits people's spirits so personally, so intentionally, Lord, that it leads to deeper spiritual transformation and healing and greater intimacy with you. Jesus Lord, I pray for a spirit of vulnerability.
I pray for a spirit of courage, has people take action on what you prompt them. To take action on after this episode, Lord, and I just pray for deep, deep healing and your nearness and a greater felt sense of your presence. Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit rests on me and works through me. It's not what I want to say, but it is what you want to say through me, Jesus, and I'm so grateful to get the opportunity to feed your sheep and to be a vessel for you.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, let's get into Mark 10 verses 46 through 52. The story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar. Then he came to Jericho as Jesus and his disciples together with a large crowd. Were leaving the city a blind man, Bartimaeus, [00:05:00] which means son of Timus, was sitting by the roadside begging.
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted, all the more son of David have mercy on me. Jesus stopped and said, call him. So they call to the blind man, cheer up on your feet. He's calling you.
Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asked. The blind man, said, rabbi, I want to see. Go. Said Jesus. Your faith has healed you. Immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. This is such a powerful [00:06:00] scripture. This is a story of a blind man who brought his honest desires to the Lord, when I was reading some commentary by Ruth Haley Barton, who was one of my favorite theologians, she said that in her research of this verse.
Commentators speculate that the cloak that the beggar was wearing, that Bartimaeus was wearing may have been the only thing that he owned, and he threw it off of him to run to Jesus. And some commentators speculate that he might not have been wearing anything under his cloak. So he truly was leaving all pride, all dignity aside, to fully bring himself vulnerably to the Lord in the middle of a large crowd.
When people are opposing him and telling him that, don't run to Jesus, he's running to Jesus anyway, the Lord hears his cry and answers his prayer and radically changes his life. And what's so interesting about this scripture is. [00:07:00] It must have been pretty obvious that Bartimaeus was blind, number one, because Jesus literally is God. He would know what Bartimaeus truly desired and what he would want healing from, but also physically you could just see it. I'm sure everyone around knew what Bartimaeus was gonna ask for when he approached Jesus. So why did Bartimaeus have to say it?
And why did Jesus ask, what do you want me to do for you? And that comes up a lot in scripture where Jesus asks people before he heals it, what do you want me to do for you? What do you want? Do you want to be healed? And I believe that that's intentional. That there is something that happens when we muster up the courage break through the vulnerability, and we bring those honest desires to the Lord. And even though when we're vulnerable, we are open to wounding. We are safe in Jesus's presence.
There is no shame [00:08:00] or condemnation in Christ Jesus. . I started this episode bringing up the question that I get asked so much, Abby, is it bad that I have this desire to lose weight? My answer is now different.
I used to say that it's natural in our society and in our culture but the thing is, as Christians, we are called to be in the world, not of the world. So even though it's normal in our society, have this desire to lose weight, that doesn't mean that we need to now have that desire.
For Samuel 16, seven says that the Lord doesn't look at our outward appearance. He doesn't look at what people look at that he looks at our heart. We need to care more about the state of our heart versus how we look. The Lord cares more about that. However, that doesn't mean that the Lord doesn't desire weight loss for you or that it's not possible and that you need to stay your current weight forever.
But that's not up for to me to decide. So I think it's the wrong question. People are asking me, is it bad to have that desire? My question is, have you brought that honest desire to the Lord? What does Jesus say about it? [00:09:00] Because it doesn't matter what, what I think as your dietician about that desire to lose weight, it's what does Jesus want for you, and are you holding onto that desire too closely?
Is it becoming an idol? Is it your main motivation behind why you do things to steward your body? Or is it to give him all the honor and the glory because you may not be losing weight right now because if he was to just have you. Drop to your goal weight, you probably wouldn't attribute it to him. You would attribute to whatever diet you're doing at, whatever supplement you're on, whatever you bought from TikTok shop last week, he's going to heal your body.
He is going to have you lose weight if that's in his will, in a way that gives him all of the glory and all of the honor, all of the recognition. So if you're not there yet with your heart posture, then we need to bring that honest desire to the Lord. And one thing that Ruth Haley Barton says in her book, sacred Rhythms, highly recommend this [00:10:00] book.
I'm actually leading a small group this semester with this book. It's great because it gives you so many spiritual practices. Each chapter is dedicated to a different spiritual discipline. It just adds more tools to your toolbox if you're already in the habit of having a quiet time and have been walking with the Lord for a while. This book is really great to give you different ways of interacting with God, optimizing your quiet time, deepening your intimacy with Jesus. And she says on page 25. As disturbing as it is to be exposed in this way, sometimes it is exactly what we need for, then Jesus can gently strip away that which is false and destructive in our desire and fan and de flames those desires that are good and true.
So it's the wrong question to ask me, is it bad that I have this desire to lose weight? Doesn't matter if the desire is good or bad. The answer is let's bring that desire to God and Jesus will sift through it. Very similar to the parable of the fish. Jesus says, I'm gonna [00:11:00] make you a fisher of men.
Just bring me all of the fish. Bring me all of the men. I will sift through them. And I know in that parable he's talking about , who's going to heaven and who's not, and sifting through and judgment day, all, all that. But it's the same thing here. Bring your desires to the Lord and let him sift through it
he will work with you on stripping away what is a prideful desire, a may, maybe more selfish or worldly desire or a part of that that is worldly. And affirm for you what is good and true and what does honor him amidst your desires. And I was just talking about this with a client the other day.
We were talking about anger, and she reminded me that anger is a secondary emotion, and I believe that it's the same for weight loss. That weight loss is a secondary goal. People say that they want to lose weight, but really people wanna be accepted in society. They wanna feel comfortable in an airplane, they wanna be able to.[00:12:00]
Ride a ride at an amusement park and, and not get glares and be comfortable. They want to feel greater intimacy with their spouse. They want love, affirmation, community connection. They want health. Maybe they want a promotion at work. I hear all the time how patients feel like they're being passed up for promotions at work because of their size, because they feel like people think that they're lazy or they're unprofessional, or they aren't a good worker.
And here's the thing. Scripture says that promotion comes from the Lord. Promotion does not come from your weight, so anything that you are searching for, anything that you are hoping that weight loss will do for you, the Lord can do for you and he can do it for you at your current size as well.
It very well may be that he may have you lose weight but. We have to get to that deeper desire. So bring your honest desire for weight loss to the Lord and then sit long enough in the Lord's presence.[00:13:00]
To hear his response, because I hear all the time too, Abby, I've been crying out to the Lord. I have talked with God day in and day out so many times about my desire to lose weight, and I just don't hear anything from him. And so my question would be, are you sitting long enough in his presence to actually hear his response and are you not hearing him or are you not hearing what you want to hear?
Because you're saying that you want weight loss, but what is the deeper desire underneath that? If anger is a secondary emotion, weight loss is a secondary goal. What is the goal? What are you hoping that the weight loss will do for you? And that may uncover what is truly that deeper desire. Do you want connection, affirmation, acceptance, love, community health, promotion, recognition.
What are you looking for? I.
Jesus can come in and fill that. Now, once you start walking with the [00:14:00] Lord and he's ordering your steps in terms of health and stewarding your body, you may lose weight in that process regardless of if you lose weight or not. Jesus needs to be enough. So we have to bring our desires vulnerably to the Lord.
Let the Lord sift through all of that. Get to the deeper desire, and you have to work with the Lord to get yourself to a place where Jesus is enough. You feel loved by Jesus. You get full affirmation from Jesus. You receive healing from Jesus, acceptance from like all of the things that you're searching for, intimacy with Jesus.
And of course we're gonna have this with other people in our communities, but it's important that Jesus is first in that and that he is sufficient. Weight loss may come as a byproduct of walking with him in terms of your healthy lifestyle. But what I love about this Bartimaeus story is that if you are navigating the desire for weight loss, you don't have to navigate that alone.
[00:15:00] God has things that he wants to say to you about it,
and the Lord wants to
be involved in that discussion and that desire, and he's asking you. What do you want me to do for you? If you meditate on this scripture, imagine yourself as Bartimaeus on the side of the road, and you hear Jesus, and you get the courage and the vulnerability to approach him, and you're face-to-face with Jesus, and he asks you, what do you want me to do for you?
See what comes up for you, and sit long enough in his presence to hear his response.[00:16:00]
