Let’s talk about patience! I know it is not a super fun topic. Patience is HARD.

My family recently went on our first trip to Disney World. There were many, many times my patience was tested from the waiting in lines to all my people being hangry, including me! The trip, like most things we value in life, was as hard as it was rewarding. Our bodies are no different. Sure, they are amazing gifts from God, but they also come with their fair share of issues! It’s tough to be patient with them because of their imperfections and their ever-changing nature! Even the world’s standards for our bodies change continually. Therefore, trying to accept our bodies when we're being thrown new standards, health foods, and guidelines can be maddening!

How to Find Godly Patience with Your Body

So, how do we find Godly patience with:

a changing body
ever-changing health guidelines
body insecurities
a much-needed health breakthrough

To start, let’s look at someone who understood the patience scenario very well, probably more than she ever wanted to! This lady often felt overlooked and wasn't necessarily labeled as very attractive. Some even told her that she had “weak eyes”. And just to make matters worse, she had a gorgeous sister. Eventually, she got married; however, she never felt loved by her husband. But wait, it gets worse. Her husband actually was in love with her beautiful sister!

No, this is not a character from the latest Netflix drama. Did you figure out that it’s the story of Leah as recorded in Genesis? I know I can relate to her feelings of being overlooked and overshadowed. Can you? Let’s look at how she dealt with these feelings. Her response after having each one of her four sons gives us a snapshot of her journey.

Notice after she has her first and second sons that she credits God for these blessings. She still expresses her pain and desire, but she believes that God sees and hears her. However, look at the change in her after her third son, Levi. She says, “now at last my husband will become attached to me because I have borne him three sons.” Two things to note. One, she doesn’t credit God for her sons. Two, she lowers her desire. Instead of desiring for her husband to love her, she settles for him to become attached to her.

Can you relate to Leah’s plight? Have you ever heard a “no” from God, specifically with your health or your body? In the longing and the pain, do the “no’s” make you want to lower your desires? Perhaps it’s too painful to desire a body you accept, so you give up altogether! Giving up can come in many forms. Personally, I have shoved down painful, unmet desires with busyness and productivity. However, covering up pain with something else never solves the problem. Unresolved pain always finds a way to creep back up!

Grieve and Receive

Instead of shoving down your desire and giving up, it’s important to feel the pain of an unmet desire. It’s ok to admit that it hurts. Grief is healing. Grieving over a “no” doesn't mean that we're unfaithful, ungrateful, or whiny. In fact, when we allow ourselves to feel pain, we’re also allowing the opportunity for God to heal us.

Grieving is important and needs to be partnered with receiving. We need to receive God's patience with us as we give Him our pain and desires. He does not tire of us. He longs for us and continues to give us grace over and over and over. Receiving the patience of God and the grace of God is how we begin to reflect the nature of God.

Another thing to receive from the Lord is guidance. First, give Him your desires. Maybe it's something to do with your body or your relationship with food. Then ask God, “Are my desires in line with what you desire for my life? If not, Lord please change my heart to align with your will for the good of my life and for the good of others.” God loves you and everyone else so sometimes a no to your prayer can be a blessing for someone else. Can we find a way to still praise Him through that?

Rejoice and Rise

Notice what Leah said after she had her fourth son Judah.

“I will praise the Lord.”

Full stop. She didn’t say, I will praise you God IF you change my husband. I will praise you God IF you give me my desires. No, she just praised God. This was a big change from her response to her third son. After her third son, she gave herself all of the credit for her children, not God. Sometimes when we feel like God isn’t answering a prayer, it’s tempting to discredit Him for everything else. However, what a powerful perspective shift when we can find things to be grateful for in the midst of waiting for a desire. Can we say, “God I'm waiting for this but I'm gonna praise you and thank you for all of these other blessings that I have in my life. Just because you're not giving me this thing doesn't mean you haven't been the one who blessed me with these other things.”

Praising God through waiting is difficult, but boy is it a game-changer! Praise and gratitude transform the heart.

Isaiah 40:31 “Those who hope (or wait) in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.”

The strength that we get from the Lord propels us to keep going. Waiting can make us want to crumble and stop, but when we wait in God's strength, we move forward. We soar, run, and walk. We rejoice when things are good and when we're waiting for things to get better. We rejoice regardless and then we find hope. Romans 5: 3-5 says hope in Christ will never disappoint. That’s because, unlike everything we hope for on this Earth, Christ never changes or lets us down. As long as we’re living on this Earth, our bodies will change and often disappoint us. They will be imperfect, and we will feel that pain. But we cling to the hope that in Christ, one day all things will be made new. All things will be made perfect.

And for that reason, we rejoice.

A Prayer for Godly Patience with Your Body

In your journey of growing in Godly patience, I pray for you to:

Grieve and give God your pain.
Receive God’s patience, grace, and guidance.
Rejoice in Him regardless.
Rise in His hope that He is working all things out for good.

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