Live It Articles Move in Him

For in Him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28

Movement in our society has been branded with a word those of us with weight problems have come to loathe, and that word is EXERCISE. I came to First Place weighing almost 300 lbs. (235 kilos) and when I learned of the nine commitments and signed the Commitment Sheet, I only signed up for eight of those nine commitments. Exercise was the commitment I did not intend to participate in because it was uncomfortable; it hurt, and took up too much of my time.

God's Word says that in Him we "move." I read this and fell under deep conviction, because as large as I was, I did not move very much at all. I began to seek the Lord and ask Him how I should pray. I knew that exercise would be the key that released me from the "fat" and "food" prison in which I lived for much of my adult life. I didn't have the heart for exercising and just couldn't make myself get started on any kind of program. I knew that the enemy had me right where he wanted me, going nowhere and hating to move.

One night as I was in the Word and praying to the Father from the bottom of my heart, I began to go over in my mind the same prayer I had rehearsed so many times, "Oh, God, I just want to be thin again." I sounded like a broken record. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit stopped me in the middle of my prayer and began to prompt me in another direction. I heard myself talking to the Lord about my weight in a way that I had never spoken to Him before.

"Father, I changed my diet, lost weight and put it back on again. I bought exercise equipment and tried to change my mind and my habits so I would use it, but couldn't do it. I have repeatedly fallen back into the same rut. Father, the one thing I can't change is my heart. I would really like to have the heart to exercise and to enjoy it. Change my heart, Oh, God."

From that day on I never asked the Lord again to make me thin; I asked Him to change my heart. Over a period of time, I began to see the dislike for exercise begin to evolve into a tolerance, then to a "maybe I can," and then into, "I know I can." Finally, it became a lifestyle.

As I was working out today, God gave me this footnote to illustrate my point. Several years ago (before First Place and my weight loss) I bought a sailboat. I had no skills in sailing; it just looked like something that would not be much work, and at the same time would allow me to enjoy being outside. I brought the boat home and parked it in my yard, not knowing bow from stern. The boat sat in my yard for weeks. Every time I looked at it, I would think, "What was I thinking buying this boat? I have wasted my money."

I finally went to the bookstore and bought a "Sailing Book for Dummies." I read the book and felt even more like a dummy because I didn't understand a word it said. It used words like "tacking" and "jibs" and I didn't have a clue what it meant. One day I bit the bullet and decided to take the boat to the lake. I knew if I turned the boat over, I was a pretty good swimmer even though I was so heavy; perhaps, I could float until someone came to rescue me.
As I began to sail, all the information I had obtained from the Dummies Book came flooding into my head. All I had read in the book began to make sense. I was so excited that I read the book again and understood perfectly what it meant. From that moment on I have totally enjoyed sailing.

What does this have to do with exercise, you may ask? From this illustration I equate it to my own beginnings in First Place and exercise. For years I had been sedentary, sitting in a Lazy Boy recliner and reading my Bible, but going nowhere. Much like that sailboat parked in my yard, I knew what His word said, but until I got up and began to actually move in His creation and environment, I couldn't apply the Word. When I began to move and interact with His people and the things of His world, I was really sailing. Moving is one of the keys that pulls it all together and applies the Word in our lives. "In Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28

I began a daily walking program to get started moving in Him. Walking is inexpensive, takes no special athletic skill and I learned to do it when I was ten months old, so I have been doing it for a long time. It hurt so much when I began to walk, but I was able to continue on because I knew I wasn't injured. The source of the pain was my body adjusting to the shock of being upright, moving, and missing the Lazy Boy recliner. I told Jesus if He walked up the hill at Calvary carrying that cross for me, then I could do this for Him, but He was going to have to walk it with me. He has been faithful to walk with me every step along the way.

Jesus and I have now walked 8,264 miles. I have lost a total of 147 pounds (67 kilos) and kept it off for four years. He did His part and I had to do my part. I provided the legs and He provided the changed heart. "For we are laborers together with God." I Corinthians 3:9

If you find yourself disliking to exercise and move, ask the Father to change your heart. He is faithful to His children who earnestly seek Him. As you begin to MOVE in Him you will find the waters will progressively become smooth sailing.

Beverly Henson
Certified Personal Trainer


Beverly Henson is a conference and rally speaker for the First Place ministry. She is also a Bible teacher and certified personal trainer. Beverly joined First Place in July 1997 and has lost 147-1/2 pounds. First Place has given Beverly a powerful testimony. She is a First Place leader and Bible teacher at Northcrest Baptist Church in Meridian, Mississippi. Beverly has a genuine love of proclaiming the word of God to His people.