Where Did You Find God Today?

courtesy answerfitness.com

Do you love your body? A recent study  published by Glamour Magazine showed the average woman has 13 negative or destructive inner thoughts about her body every day.  I admit, most of my life I have been disgusted with my short, frumpy body that seems to want to hang onto weight as if it was the rarest gold. Even as a child I was “well-rounded”.

Paul told the church in Corinth –“Our earthly bodies, which die and decay, will be different when they are resurrected, for they will never die. Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised, they will be full of glory.” (1 Corinthians 15: 42-43, NLT)

I don’t think he meant “disappoint” the way I do, and the way most modern women do. He meant the aches and pains, age setting in and chronic ailments. After all, he admitted he had a thorn in his flesh.

Paul stated the thorn in his flesh was one way God was keeping him humble. To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.                        (2 Corinthians 12:7NIV)

My thorn is my own, lifelong negative image. God is calling me, and perhaps you, to turn to Him for the renewal of our thoughts about our bodies. I know I do not have the gumption on my own to lose a bunch of weight. I also know I must call upon the name of Jesus each time a negative inner thought about my appearance surfaces to the forefront of my brain. Otherwise I will turn to the fridge for comfort instead of to Him.

Now that mid-age sag has become a reality and my bones and muscles ache a bit more each day, it seems as if my body is holding me back from doing what I want to do. Of course, sitting at computers all day writing doesn’t help – I know that. So,  another negative thought would loom to the surface as if in a Magic Eight ball- “you need to exercise but you are too weak  and achy to do it.”  This blame the body game is a bad habit.

A dear friend from Canada, who is also a Christian writer, blogged this today: “…we know that these human bodies will be one day glorified and be with God forever.  I have gained a new appreciation for the unique way our bodies are made. We need to respect and take care of them, knowing that we will still have issues and our bodies will one day say ‘enough’.   Because of our faith, we are guaranteed a glorified body in a glorified forever  home.

As my friend likes to remind me, “God is good–all the time.”  He is. He will help us walk through our aches and pains with a promise of new health, new bodies, and a forever future. When we get discouraged with our physical bodies we can be encouraged because we have a promise to cling to.  (To read the whole devo, go to http://powertochange.com/blogposts/2012/11/29/the-skin-i-am-in/)

Today, I found God in a devo from a friend, and subsequently when I looked in the mirror and began to see my body in a new way – through the helping strength of its Maker.

Dear Lord, may I concentrate more on not disappointing you as being your hands and feet in this world. Let me dwell less on my disappointing body which only spirals me into a negative image and blocks You from working through me. Help me to take my eyes off myself and focus on You. You will provide the strength I need to get this temple in better shape, but to also accept it is what it is – flawed and aging but still something You can use. Let me thank you for the parts that do still work well and are my assets. Above all, let me truly absorb that I am precious in Your sight, as we all are. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.