Food and how it affects our health is fascinating. It can become one of our greatest allies, or our greatest foe.
Years ago I asked Jesus what His heart was for nutrition. What He began showing me, over time was that He wants food to no longer be a place of fear, guilt, condemnation, control, or anxiety. He wants to teach His people how to enjoy this beautiful part of creation that was never created with ill intentions. He wants us to learn how it can bless us and heal us and strengthen us from a place of hope.
A few years ago, I had a revelation. I began to see the subtlety in which the enemy (Satan) was very slowly perverting health and nutrition. This part of our lives, which we know is good and life-giving, has suddenly become, for many, a place of heavy burdens and striving.
Many of my patients come to me doing everything “right.” Yet they continue to face various health issues. You may be one of those people… eating a clean, healthy diet, and doing everything right, but hitting roadblock after roadblock of new health challenges.
There is a lot you can explain in that with science. But what I began to see was more from God’s eyes. The very thing that is supposed to give us strength and joy and life, is now becoming an all-consuming pursuit that is distracting and disqualifying His people from the very things He has created them for and destined them for.
Think about that for a minute.
So what do we do about it? How do we stop running in circles chasing after perfect health that never seems to be perfect? How do we let go of that part of our lives that consumes us and dictates so much of what we can and cannot do? How do we still exercise wisdom at the same time?
Step one: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and ALL THESE THINGS will be added unto you.”
What I have discovered with my patients is that if we don’t pause to ask God for direction and wisdom, we will quickly become overwhelmed with everything we COULD and SHOULD be doing. Instead, God loves to speak and He loves to direct; and He tells us that we can ask Him for help.
Let me give you an example from my own life (one of many):
For the past two and a half months, I started having severe stomach and sinus issues. It had been YEARS since I had struggled so much with health to this degree. I started to get worried because it only seemed to worsen each day.
The temptation at this point was to take all the knowledge I have and start doing everything I knew to do to figure it out and fix myself. I could cut out gluten, dairy, caffeine, and histamine-containing foods. I could try this and that supplement, do a candida cleanse, re-test for food sensitivities, and on and on and on.
As I started to feel overwhelmed, I knew God was saying, “Just wait.” So I ate wisely and made sure I was doing my part in being “smart,” and then I went on with my life.
That is not easy! Going on with life when your body is in pain and has no energy is HARD, but Jesus does give us grace to do it when we need to, and He will give us a way out.
Two months in, the Lord finally spoke to me in a dream. He spoke about ONE ingredient, saying that was the culprit. Within 5 days, I was a new person. I did not omit every last trace of it from my diet, as it is a common ingredient in many things. But I did omit the bulk of it.
What amazed me is how simple it was. One thing. Once I understood what that ONE thing was, I knew what was going on in my body and how to treat it.
There was someone I had been praying for who had the exact same health issues going on, and as I prayed, I felt like the instruction to remove this one ingredient was something God was showing me for them as well. I shared this with him, and it changed everything.
Apparently God had been talking to this person about giving up this very thing before I ever mentioned it. My input was purely the affirmation he needed.
The weirder part... once I shared this, all of a sudden those symptoms were gone for me. I could consume this one ingredient again in moderation with no problems whatsoever.
Isn't God amazing?! All that to affirm what He was saying for this person.
How we hear God for our health varies. Sometimes it is through knowledge we already have that He breathes life on. Sometimes, He directs us to the person who has that wisdom and from whom we need to learn. Sometimes, He speaks in a dream, a vision, an impression on our heart, and sometimes He just does something altogether miraculous.
My point is this: We need to partner with Jesus for our health - not fear. We need to follow His prompting - not what everyone else tells us we need to do. We need to LIVE in His peace - not in a place of being overwhelmed or anxious. We need to know He is on our side and His desire is FULL RESTORATION - not an endless pursuit of health that never seems to be attainable. All because He loves us
THIS IS HOPE!!!! And we need our hope restored.
What is He asking you do? What is He asking you to let go of and trust Him with? Remember, trusting is an action and we have to actively step into trusting God in these parts of our lives. Faith is what moves mountains…but it is often a journey.
You have been destined to great things in life. Your health is not allowed to hold you back from those things. Jesus wants to restore your health because He loves you, and you were created for so much more.