If you read my blogs in the beginning (2011 archives) you know that the name of my blog stemmed from my desire to have my physical and spiritual life in balance; both to radiate God's glory. I never realized how much of a 'baby Christian' or milk-fed I was until a few years ago. Hebrews 5:13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. I spent most of my adult life having others teach me and not learning or seeking wisdom through the Holy Spirit in reading scripture and prayer on my own.
As I have grown spiritually and matured God called me to a holier life and leave old habits and unhealthy choices behind. Unfortunately, in my immaturity as a baby Christian, I would surrender one old habit or unhealthy choice and fill it with another. 1 Corinthinas 6:13 says, "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. In recent years my battle has been a weight problem. There have been several medical issues that have contributed to it but none the less my weight has become out of control.
Recently I was told I have high blood sugar. It has been borderline for the last few years so it wasn't shocking but still upsetting. Part of having a life in balance is knowing that I am sick - physically and spiritually. Believe it or not some of our physical ailments have a direct connection to our spiritual ailments. In Luke 5:31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. When I surrender an unhealthy choice I must be willing to allow God and only God to fill that void. Here's something that I missed over the years--God created a God sized-hole that only He can fill. We can fill it with many things but none will satisfy. Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35 And in
John 7:37-38 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
The reality is I am not getting any younger and it is important to take care of my physical body. I do want to live a long life and Lord willing marry the man God created for me. But when God created this body, He created it as a temple and resides in it. 1 Corinthians 6:19 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" God created our bodies as living temples for the Holy Spirit. As such, we should honor our bodies in what we consume and how we treat it (physical activity). 1 Corinthians 6:12 says “Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything. I have to laugh every now and then as I recall praying to God that He would make my inner beauty match my outer (I thought the outer looked good so wanted the inner to reflect that as well). 1 Peter 3:4 says Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
Let me caution you here, there is an opposite extreme as well. When I was younger (20's) I was focused on my looks and appearance. I was very religious about my workout routine, my size, my looks, etc. none of which was to honor God. I also wanted a husband and family to take care of above anything else. I never wanted wealth, possessions or status but a husband and children. I focuesed on the wrong things early in life. The husband and children were not wrong to desire but instead I put them in the wrong place as my focus before God. Matthew 6:33 says, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Whether it is physical, spiritual, health, husband, children you must be willing to seek God first and put Him before EVERYTHING.
Now, in humor, I tell God thank you for radiating your glory from within but did my outside have to expand when you expanded my heart? (I know some of the women out there are laughing right now). I do know that Christ shines in me now more than ever and I am grateful. Amusingly, it has been my prayer that the first thing my husband sees in me is Christ. I haven't met my husband yet (at least not to my knowledge)but do know that He will see Christ in me first.
I have learned I am sick and need the One who came to heal the sick. I'm not in balance yet but, today, my balance is found in seeking the Lord alone as He directs my spiritual and physical life.
I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10
