As someone with a liver transplant for thirty years, tests were done on me all the time. One common test is the blood test to measure my liver functions and the medication level in my bloodstream. Once in a while, I will have an ultrasound to scan the liver and make sure everything is ok.
One month ago, my doctor suggested having an ultrasound done to make sure everything is ok. As I lay down on the bed and the technician scanned my liver and took pictures, a thought dawned on me. I should share my tips and secrets on how to keep a healthy life. Mind you; this is part of reacting after seeing so many marketing and advertisements on the current diet fad and all ways to trick your body to increase metabolism to burn more fat and lose weight.
As I lay there and thinking on maybe I can make a video or write a blog post, I realized I was prideful.
You may think, why not share tips to be healthy and help others as well? For me, it is the motivation that is the problem. At that exact moment, I realized the reason I am alive is not because of what I have done. Rather, it is the Lord who sustains my health.
I am not saying I have no role to play to have a healthy lifestyle. Of course. But when I look at the grand picture. It is God who sustains me. It is God who kept me alive through all these years. I play like 1%, and God plays 99%. Why do I want to uplift the 1%?
The answer is simple. It is because of pride. It is because there is a desire to have people to look up to me.
Pride starts with, oh, Cliff. You are so good because of what you have done. If I make a video, what is the outcome? I will be glorifying myself when all the glory belongs to the Lord.
This is how subtle pride is. In today’s world, no one is going to say no to focus on yourself. After all, if you are to make it, you have to do it yourself. You have to pursue your own passion with your own strength and fulfill your own dreams. It is all about you.
But when I see the Lord at work in keeping me alive. What more can I say other than humble myself and worship Him.
When we read the Bible, God often chooses the smallest or the weakest to bring victory against the enemy. Why is that? It is because He wants people to attribute the victory to Himself and not to man.
Gideon is a perfect example. God told Gideon he had too many troops and to send some back home. Why?
The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’
Judges 7:2 (NIV)
David is another great example. He is a great warrior, yet he never attributed the victory to his strength or his tactic.
When he and Israel won a battle against the Philistines, he said:
“As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me.”
A portion of 2 Samuel 5:20 (NIV()
David recognized it was the Lord who fought the battle for him. It is the same attitude when he took down Goliath:
The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
1 Samuel 17:37 (NIV)
Today, the doctor reviewed my ultrasound.
It is normal.
We live in a world where everything has to be exceptional or special. Sometimes it is good to be normal.
More importantly, I am thankful for God for keeping me alive for the past thirty years.
It is by His strength that I am alive.
Amen!
