She's Up to Her Old Self Again

Oprah is up to her old self.

When I typed that, I really didn't mean it to be a pun, but I quickly realized that it was. I started to delete it, but then I thought, no, I'd leave it. Because the statement is true. Oprah, by her own admission, has gained 50-60 pounds over the last year or so and is now back over 200 pounds.

So, what's the world's richest woman to do about it?

Simple. Cover the entire story in her monthly magazine, dedicate countless shows to the subject, and host a webinar next week to discuss why she and so many others are overweight.

If you love Oprah, then this blog post isn't for you. You might as well close it out now and go read another blog. You see, I'm not a huge Oprah fan. The reason? Oh, far too many to count in the space I will give to this post. Let's just say that I think Oprah is searching in all the wrong places for happiness in her life.

I did catch a couple of minutes of her show when I got home from work on Monday. When her personal trainer asked her why she had gained weight over the last year or so, her answer was simple: she has lost her balance--she has allowed life to get out of control. It seems that she is dedicating too much of herself to everyone else and not to herself. [I almost screamed at the TV--"If this is about balance and not letting other people be in control, then why are you writing about it, doing interviews about it, hosting webinars about it, and talking on and on and on about it?"]

When Oprah was asked why she was being so honest about her life and her weight gain, she said, and this is almost a direct quote, "It's all about me."

Sorry Oprah, but everything isn't about you. It really isn't. Life has more to it than to be limited only to your needs and problems.

Why not dedicate your incredible power and talent [and financial resources] to the real needs in the world? Why not focus on the hunger in Haiti, the people forced into child labor around the world, the children sold into prostitution in Europe, or the United States economy that your man Barak is about to inherit. Wouldn't those issues/concerns/needs be far more important than you?

I guess not. Not to you. And apparently, not to your vast following.

Thankfully, I have more important things to do than to watch Oprah. And, I have no doubt that I'll go out of my way in 2009 to do those things instead of tuning in to your latest discovery about your needs, life, feelings, weight loss/gain, etc.

It Ain't From God

Not too long ago, I read about the struggles of a young man who was trying to live a godly live. He was genuinely trying to give God every part of his life. But, he struggled. Listen to a small part of his testimony:

“Following Christ was very difficult. I remember as a young man, stopping one evening, my head hurting, with tremendous mental anguish—trying not to sin against God! This struggle took different forms. Sometimes I’d find myself plagued by the fact that I knew I had sinned. In those moments, I felt lost. I was no longer ready for His coming. I had separated myself from God again. On other occasions I would agonize, wondering whether I had been ‘good’ enough to show that my faith in Christ was real. Struggling so much with doubt and fear of losing my salvation I spent a lot of time ‘feeling my spiritual pulse’ to see if I thought I was doing enough for God to qualify for His grace.”

Wow…what a struggle. His words are powerful, aren’t they? Notice the words he used: “struggling, doubt, feat, losing, agonize, wondering”… Here was a young man, engaged in the battle of his life—fighting with everything he had in him to remain holy and close to God.

Notice the next part of his testimony: “Looking back, one of the things I find most significant is that I went through periods of pride when I considered the list of things I had done to ‘keep’ my salvation. There were times I was convinced that I had kept my end of the bargain, so now God would have to keep His. I felt this was part of the deal. In those moments I felt that God and I were now ‘even’—and with this mutual relationship I felt I really didn’t ‘owe’ Him anything. I had paid my dues!”

Have you paid your dues to God? Have you done your part to keep Him off your back, at least for today?

We sometimes try to get God off our back with our church attendance, by how much we drop in the offering plate, by how much we serve in His church. It’s almost like there’s a quota God has established that has to be met.

Is there such a quota? Where do you find it?

I don’t think there is such a quota, not from God’s perspective anyway. Maybe there is from my perspective. Maybe I’ve lived too much of my life as if it depended upon me punching a time clock for God. Maybe I’ve made others think they too had to pay their “God dues.”

I’m trying to learn to put the time clock away. And, I’m really trying to stop expecting others to punch that imagery clock as well.

Let up on yourself today! That extra weight you are carrying around…well, it ain’t from God.