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This doesn’t always happen; I wish it did. But what I’m about to share with you is a rare moment. It happened in a time of journaling, praying, and listening to God. I wrote my prayer to God and then wrote what I heard in my spirit (in italics).

God, I want to hear Your voice.

Turn away, my beloved. Seek Me. I am all you need.
Longing. What do you long for? That will be your discovery.

I want freedom, God.

If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
There is no freedom anywhere else.

God, help me!

***

There is no freedom anywhere else. Not in a diet. Not in a program. Nowhere but in the Son.

And I’ve spent 40 years believing that there was, chasing after the best diet that would free me. Crying out to God to help me keep the rules, help me have self-control, help me lose once for all.

I had it all wrong.

In Zechariah 4:6-7, God says this:

“Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of Hosts. “What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you will become a plain, and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of ‘grace, grace to it.’ ”

I love this! It’s only by God’s Spirit that I will overcome my mountain. Not by trying harder or by my sheer will. True victory will be spiritual. And God will get all the credit and glory!

When the people speak “grace, grace to it,” it’s actually them crying out to God to pour out His grace on it and bless it. This continues to show dependence even after victory.

The NIV Study Bible says the mountain probably included their “willingness to persevere.” That intrigues me. I get tired of trying. I lose focus. And the cycle continues.

I’m learning to stop trying in my own strength and to instead lean into God’s Spirit. When I do this, the freedom I find is the only freedom that will last. Amen to that!