all means ALL

When I was young I was pretty skinny. As a freshman in high school I was 5′-6″ tall and weighed 105 pounds. I can remember how much I hated being called “stringbean” and I made up my mind I was going to do what I could to change my appearance. I began lifting weights back then and eventually put on enough weight to avoid the nicknames. Eventually weight lifting became a part of my life and I found myself trying to reach various goals. One goal I had was to be able to bench press 1 and 1/2 times my body weight. (The bench press is the primary way to increase the strength and size of the pectoral (chest) muscles and is a “thing” us guys do.)

I spent alot of my lifting time working towards this goal and by the time I was 40 years old I found myself maxing out at only 1 and 1/4 times my body weight and since I was not getting any younger, I started thinking my goal was unattainable. Then I started doing some research on bench pressing and found that along with my pectoral muscles; my shoulder, back, leg, abdominal and arm muscles all played a major role in my ability to maximize my bench press. For one year I began working every muscle in my body building for the big day in which I would try to attain my goal. Already long story-short, I accomplished my goal and it would never have happened if I hadn’t strengthened ALL the muscles of my body.

I was talking with a fellow Christian friend a few weeks ago and he was sharing some challenges he was facing in his Christian walk. I could tell he was not turning everything over to God. He was asking God for help in some areas but was holding onto other areas.

I shared with him the challenges that are created by living this way. By holding on to “stuff” we end up short-changing ourselves from God’s gifts, i.e. the fruits; Galatians 5:22 “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Living like this is like trying to max out on a bench press by only working 1 or 2 muscle groups, it will not happen. My experience of giving “partial-ALL” to God usually results in something really amazing happening followed by something really stupid happening, which in turn clouds my vision of the amazing event. Guess who provided the amazing results and guess who was responsible for the stupid results?

I lived this way during my first few years of recovery until one night at a 12 Step meeting a gentleman shared how his life became so much more manageable once he let God have it ALL. Being in desperate need of manageability I started giving it ALL to God first thing, everyday. “Let go and let God” has become my personal mantra. Letting God have ALL of my life does not exclude me from the challenges of life, but by including God in on the challenges, my perception of the challenges are totally different. Things no longer overwhelm me like they used to.

I find many “partial-Alls” in the recovery community. They “beat” one addiction and then they move to another. They deal with their most glaring character defects but let the “minor” ones fester. They stop drinking and start eating. They stop drugging but they start gossiping and criticizing. They stop drinking but stay in an abusive relationship. The kicker is when we profess Jesus as Lord and savior but remain miserable. How does that make Jesus look? God tells us in Proverbs 3:6 “Seek his will in ALL you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

So why do we do it? Why do we not give it ALL to God? There are various reasons and fear is at the center of it all. We are afraid of what might happen when we let go of “stuff.” For some reason we think holding on and trying to control will be a better way. We become comfortable in our own daily misery…how messed up is that? Believe me, it takes one to know one. Any fear that separates us from the awesome fruits of God is of the devil.

Today I am grateful that I came so close to crashing and burning doing it my way years ago. It serves as a great reminder of how much I can screw things up when doing it ALL alone. My best work bankrupted me in ALL aspects of my life. I believe 1 Corinthians 3:18 was written specifically for me; “Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise.” Amen, Paul, I remind myself daily that I am a fool in the absence of God!

Ask yourself where you are with “ALL.” Are you a “partial-All” wondering why you are unable to achieve your goals? Or are you flexing every muscle of your being with God’s help and experiencing the real fruits of “ALL?” As with any new habit there are only 2 steps in giving it ALL to God on a daily basis; start and continue.

P.E.A.C.E.