My physical limitations frustrate me. By the time I finish pouring myself out in the middle school classroom, I do not feel like exercising in the evening. Many times, I feel that I must choose between working on a ministry project and preparing healthy food. And who has time for sleep? But last year, I read Holley Gerth’s biblical perspective of our physical limitations, and it made me think. She observes,
“Many of our limitations are intentionally placed there by him [God]. He’s the one who decided we’d all need an average of eight hours of sleep and frequent meals. . . . When God declared that what he made was good, it included the parts of your humanity that may sometimes frustrate you or slow you down.”[1]
God knows exactly how He designed us, and our physical limitations are not a disappointment to Him. To decry our physical needs as “not good” means that we are telling God His design is flawed. Yet God intentionally created us as physical beings. Even in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve needed to prepare and eat food, exercise, and sleep. Tending to the physical needs of ourselves and others is a way to honor God.
God’s Concern with the Physical
God has a lot to say about how to take care of our bodies. Think about all the laws in the Old Testament about what to eat, what to drink, how to deal with medical issues, and how to handle relationships between men and women. God did not give the Israelites those laws just because He wanted to give them rules. He gave them those laws because, as the Creator, He knew what lifestyle would lead to their greatest health and happiness. After all, since He created our bodies, minds, and emotions, He knows how to make them run optimally.
A Biblical Example
Think about Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. When they were kidnapped in their early teens and taken to a foreign country, they immediately made a major stand. What major spiritual battle did they face? They determined to follow God’s laws about food. They asked to eat vegetables and drink water instead of eating the king’s meat and drinking his wine. And they did not give up when they encountered a little resistance.
Isn’t it interesting that in a pagan country filled with foreign gods, rituals, and mindsets, they would not budge on what they were going to put into their bodies?
Daniel convinced the authorities to let them try their diet for ten days. At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his faithful friends were healthier than any of the other young men in their group. When it was time to meet the king, their wisdom and understanding outshone all the well-established magicians and astrologers throughout the entire kingdom.
God blessed these young men who honored Him by giving them great wisdom (Daniel 1:17). But Daniel and his friends also did a wise thing by putting the healthiest food and drink into their bodies.
This dawned on me a few years ago when I was doing some research on water. From a simple Google search, I learned that water gives our brains more energy than other drinks such as coffee, soda, or tea. On the website Water Benefits Health, Merlin Hearn and Nancy Hearn observe,
“When your brain is functioning on a full reserve of water, you will be able to think faster, be more focused, and experience greater clarity and creativity.”[2]
Daniel and his friends drank water. They gave their brains every chance to function at full capacity as they learned to be the rulers and leaders God designed them to be. If honoring God with their bodies enabled Daniel and his friends to influence a pagan, foreign country, perhaps we should make the effort to live a healthy lifestyle as well.
Practicing Stewardship
Life is a whirlwind of activities. Many times, it is hard to dedicate time and attention to taking care of our physical needs. Yet we honor God when we are good stewards of the bodies God gave us. As we struggle to balance all the needs and activities pulling at our time and attention, let us determine to care for our bodies. May we be intentional in ensuring that our bodies run optimally as we endeavor to serve God and accomplish His work in the world.
[1] Holley Gerth, You’re Made for a God-sized Dream (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2013), 139.
Being intentional is the key. Thanks for a great post!