Today’s post is officially a YouTube video. However, I’m the kind of person who gets a little irritated when I go to CNN.com and I don’t get any text about what the video is about.

So I’ll post it here and invite you to watch it (which means the world to me). But if you’re at work or aren’t at a place to watch and listen, I’ve included a summary.

Please don’t hold me accountable to saying the same things in the video and in the written word. I tend to go “off script” on video … let’s just say you get to see more of my personality that way.

(By the way, it is really helpful to me if you could “like” the video on YouTube and subscribe. Would you please do that?)

Here’s a synopsis of the content:

My innocuous “grab a piece of chocolate after lunch” slowly morphed into “binge on anything with sugar after lunch and dinner and sometimes breakfast.” I’m ashamed to admit it but I also believe in being transparent in this health journey.

A friend of mine recently shared her story of quitting cigarettes. She smoked for years and knew she needed to quit. Obviously, the power of nicotine is high and physical addiction is strong. She knew God wanted her to quit and it was best for her. But obviously: hard.

She approached quitting in an unconventional manner. She purchased a pack of cigarettes and placed them in her desk. The looking up at God, she proclaimed, “God, I know you want me to quit. You know how hard this is. I’m putting this pack in my drawer. If you don’t want me to smoke them, you’re going to need to take this desire away from me.”

Bold and daring, she admits this wasn’t exactly the most respectful way to speak to Him. But He met her right where she was. And she hasn’t had a cigarette since then. Checkmate, win to God.

I sat on this story for a few weeks. Meditating on it. Digesting it.

My own bold realization

Then I realized, this could be my story. Maybe with a little less audacity, but with the same heart.

“God, I need your help. This sugar is addictive and has control over me. I know it’s not honoring to the body you gave me and doesn’t fuel it right. Please take the desire away from me.”

I wish I could tell you I prayed this once and it hasn’t been an issue since. Problem solved and by the way, I’m down ten pounds!

Not so much, not by a long shot.

What I know is this:

• I must pray this daily. Just like in the Lord’s prayer, we ask “give us today our daily bread,” (Luke 11:3) I need daily strength to bypass the sugar.
• Even though this seems to be a sheepish thing to pray for, God is here for all the things. Big, small, life-changing or inconsequential. He is my God and I may seek him in everything. Jesus told the crowds in the Sermon on the Mount to “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receive; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-9
• His mercies are new every day. He is faithful. (Lamentations 3:22-23). But I must go to Him.

I’ve been using my Reset Checklist to remind myself to pray for this every day. On the checklist, I included a blank line to fill in. Our seasons and goals are different. Right now I’m trying to remember to take probiotics, and I have a list of people and things to pray about.

Staying away from chocolate is one of them, right next to family and dear friends.

You can get the reset checklist here if you don’t have it yet:

If this has been a struggle for you, try it. Don’t be afraid to go to God for seemingly small things.

God’s big love for you encompasses all of the small desires of your heart.

What small thing can He help you with today?