"Faith Pants" and other life lessons...(Yes, you read that correctly, I had pants that were full of faith...or were they?)

Several months ago, I was shopping at the mecca of commerce we here in the States call, "Kohl's". They happen to have a brand that I particularly love called, "Rockin Republic". The only downside to this brand is that you have to be slightly more svelte than the current version of myself. Be that as it may, I laid eyes on a pair of jeans that I couldn't pass up. 

Aside from the fact that they clearly won't fit (which on a side not means that I'm virtually buying a pair of pants that I cannot actually wear.), I decided that the deal was too good to pass up. I would merely lose the amount of lard necessary to fit into them. They shall be my "Faith Pants"! (Cue inspirational music, begin Rocky Balboa fitness montage.)

Fast forward several months and for whatever reason, my "Faith Pants" have found a new home at the bottom of my drawer. The reason? Up until a few weeks ago I had failed to realize the seriousness of my dilemma. I knew that I was overweight, I suppose I just didn't realize "how" overweight I really was. 

I was on vacation visiting my family when picture time came around. We all got together for the family photo and I realized that I had the biggest boobies of anyone in the picture. If I were a woman, I might have thought differently about this predicament, but being the man that I am, this news was very disheartening. How in the world did I let myself get so fat? Just 5 years ago I had lost 80 lbs. and got down to 183, and in 5 short years I had allowed myself to gain almost all of it back!

My problem was that I had failed to accurately access my current situation or my starting point. When I looked in the mirror, the reflection may have been a slightly smaller version of Chris Farley, but what I actually saw was more like Arnold Schwarzenhoweveryouspellhisname...only his face looked different...and he didn't have all the muscles.

When we fail to accurately access where we're really at in certain areas of our lives, those areas continue to spiral out of control simply because we lack the necessary vision for those areas of our lives to take their proper shape and form. For me it was my body, but it could be your job situation, the real condition of a relationship you're in or a host of other things. 

Zig Ziglar once said, "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time!" This is what I was doing with my body and my career. I had yet to conceive any clear vision for those areas of my life. I had much more control over those things than what I had realized, yet the only control I exercised at the moment was to allow those things to spiral out of control. 

Luke 14:28 ESV says, "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" 

An integral part of counting the cost is being able to accurately account for where we currently stand in the area of our life needing improvement. It's interesting that whenever I use SIRI on my iPhone to tell me how to get somewhere, the first question she asks me is if she can use my current location. What she's telling me is that in order for me to get where I want to be, I must first know where I actually am.

Taking a good, hard look at where you are is only going to increase your effectiveness in attaining the object of your affection. One day, I will fit into my "faith pants", but that journey didn't begin until I was able to accurately discern my starting point. 180 here I come!!!