Just You Weight

1 Corinthians 10:13

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Complacency kills.

I have heard it said probably a million times and said it myself thousands of times over the course of my life and career in the military. Merriam-Webster defines complacency as “especially satisfaction or self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.” When it comes to safety, complacency can be deadly.

In combat, if you find yourself comfortable or satisfied, you may very well find yourself on the business end of a gun, rocket, mortar, or bomb real fast. A number of my brothers and sisters in arms paid the ultimate price due to complacency on some level, whether it was their own or that of their leaders.

To defeat complacency in the Army we were trained in what are called priorities of work. Every day in combat is the same song, and it goes a little something like this:

1. Security: Establish and maintain 360 degree security.

2. Withdrawal Route: Identify and mark a withdrawal route and designated rally point.

3. Communication: Establish communications with higher headquarters.

4. Weapon Maintenance: Clean and inspect weapons and equipment.

5. Position Improvement: Construct or improve fighting positions.

6. Rest / Hygiene: Ensure soldiers rest and attend to personal hygiene. Notice where this falls in the priorities.

7. Planning: Continue to plan and issue orders.

If you deploy to a war zone and spend a year there, this is your life every single day. This list does not even factor in patrols, missions, and the normal chaos of life in a combat zone. These priorities are simply the bare minimum required to survive where you are.

The ultimate answer to almost any problem is security. Nothing happens without it.

If someone is wounded and needs evacuation, it cannot happen without security.
If you need a resupply by air because you are cut off, it cannot happen without security.

There is also a built-in catch-all. If you ever feel comfortable or satisfied with your position, you fall back on position improvement. It never ends. You can improve cover, camouflage, observation, communications, quality of life, and defensive strength. You are only limited by your imagination.

Now that I have explained complacency and the dangers of it, I need to confess something.

For some time now, I have been complacent.

For most of my life I have been physically fit with no issues whatsoever, but struggled mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. Now later in life the opposite has happened. Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually I am rock solid. Physically, I am lacking.

A family member of mine once famously said, “My how the turns table.”

Yes, you read that right.

But for the past few years I dropped my security and got comfortable in life. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted. I stopped working out. I drank cold Coca-Cola like I was nineteen years old again.

I was headed for trouble and in the fast lane getting there.

This all came to a head at the doctor’s office a couple weeks ago when I received some bad news. High blood pressure. High cholesterol. Type 2 diabetes. Obesity.

It felt like someone hit me in the chest with a sledgehammer.

I had failed miserably and had finally been called out on it. The temple God charged me to steward, I had polluted. I was so angry with myself I could barely speak for two days.

I realized what had happened.

I had become complacent.

I had dropped security and let the enemy overwhelm my position.

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13

So what do you do when you realize you have lost ground?

I will tell you what I did.

The choice to change is easy, when you have no other choice. You either get busy living or get busy dying. I choose to live.

I prayed early and often.
I confessed to people who would pray for me and speak truth to me.
I started medication and take it like I should.
I began eating the way I am supposed to eat.

And the big one: I fast every day.

Intermittent fasting has been incredible for me. I fast from 7 p.m. to 11 a.m. every day. This ancient spiritual discipline has made all the difference.

Fasting is pure and simple. It is abstaining from food for spiritual purposes.

This journey toward health must include God. Apart from Him I can do nothing. I am actively working with Him and communicating with Him every time something enters my body, and every hour when it does not.

Aside from the spiritual benefits, fasting also has numerous physical benefits:

1. Weight loss

2. Fat burning

3. Reduced insulin resistance

4. Lower inflammation

5. Improved heart health through lower blood pressure and cholesterol

6. Enhanced brain function

7. Improved metabolism

8. Potentially increased longevity

I read that on the Johns Hopkins Medicine website. They know a thing or two about health and medicine.

As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Though I cannot eat that anymore.

It has only been a few weeks, but it has been a wild ride. I am closing in on thirty pounds lost. Two nights ago I got out of my truck and actually leaped out. Yes, leaped. I felt noticeably lighter.

I put on a pair of my jeans and I am telling you, I felt like M.C. Hammer wearing parachute pants. They simply do not fit anymore.

God has been faithful, and obedience to His practices and guidance for our lives is working. I truly believe that when my labs are drawn again, my A1C will have gone down.

I pray expecting God to heal me, but that healing requires my participation.

When you pray for God to move a mountain, do not be surprised when you wake up next to a shovel.

This particular mountain is moving, and I am still digging.

But I want to be clear about something.

This is not a one-time battle.

Complacency is not an enemy that retreats and never returns. It circles. It probes. It waits for you to get comfortable again.

In combat we understood that the enemy watches. If a position grows quiet, if the guards relax, if the routine becomes lazy, that is exactly when an attack comes. The enemy does not waste effort on a position that is alert and disciplined.

Life is no different.

Physical health, spiritual health, mental health, even our families and faith require the same thing. Constant vigilance. Daily discipline. Small decisions repeated over and over again.

You do not win this war in one heroic moment. You win it in the quiet routines no one sees.

You win it when you choose water instead of soda.
You win it when you move when you would rather sit.
You win it when you pray when no one is watching.
You win it when you deny the flesh and strengthen the spirit.

Just like the priorities of work in the Army, the same principle applies to life.

Security must come first.

Guard what God has given you. Guard your body. Guard your mind. Guard your spirit. Guard your family.

Because if you drop security long enough, something will move in and take ground that belongs to you.

The good news is that losing ground is not the end of the story.

A good soldier knows that when a position is compromised, you do not quit. You reorganize. You call for help. You dig deeper. You improve the position and take the ground back.

That is what I am doing right now.

I am digging again.

Every fast.
Every prayer.
Every healthy meal.
Every pound lost.

Another shovel of dirt moved off the mountain.

And if there is one thing I learned in the military, it is this:

Disciplined men who refuse to quit are very difficult to defeat.

God has been faithful. He always is. The question was never whether He would show up.

The question was whether I would stop being complacent and get back in the fight.

I have.

Security is re-established.
The position is improving.
And the work continues.