Week 49: Heavenly Bodies
Weekly Reading:
II Corinthians 5 - Philippians 4
Opening Prayer
Father God,
Thank you for bringing me to this moment in my life, for providing me with the experiences I have had, and for giving me the endurance to persevere. Father, help me to be satisfied with my circumstances and see my gifts as gifts and not as hardships. Father, I love You for how You love me.
Amen
Study
I stand up and I am stiff. I feel like a woman 20 years older. I look in the mirror and see signs of my age written on every crease of skin, from my crow's feet wrinkles to the deep crevices between my eyebrows from years of squinting.
My body was created by God for different purposes at different times in my life. As a small infant, my body was teeny, it was just big enough to be held in my mother's arms, to be cuddled, to be held, just right to snuggle up to her breast for nourishment as I grew.
As I got older my body grew as well, grew stronger, grew taller. As a toddler, I was just the right size to be picked up and held but also to walk on my own. My legs grew stronger, and my arms as well. I was chubby in all the right places, which I think made me endearing to others. Who couldn't love a chubby toddler?
In adolescence, I grew taller and thinner. My body was strong enough for me to run and play, experiment and learn, just strong enough to help around the house, but not strong enough to do much more. Adolescence is where my body hatred started. A desire to fit in came and I started to look at myself as compared to others. The chubby child turned into a less chubby adolescent quite perfect and how God has designed me to be. Yet, my body judgment began and increased year after year.
As a young woman, my body turned curvy, I suppose to make myself desirable for a mate. My young breasts were round and high, my hips with a curve, with a very round bottom. Changing into a young adult is designed to show readiness for attracting a husband.
I grew older and married, my body again began to change as happier times meant connecting with food. My body again changed into a round state with more to love. After becoming pregnant, my body changed once again. Not only did my belly change into a cocoon for my baby, but also I found growth in other areas, rounder hips, fuller thighs, and larger breasts. My body was preparing itself for something else, something greater than myself. My body continued to grow as my stomach grew rounder more globe-like. My face changed, my arms changed, and everything changed in preparation for my baby.
The birth of my baby changed my body even further, I now could see the lines illustrating the growth, the preparation, and the joy of having a baby. My stomach which was once stretched and shiny now resembled a deflated balloon. The perfect place to house my newborn baby. My breasts became even more engorged as they prepared the food source for my baby. I didn't resemble my old self but I resembled something new, a mother.
As time went on and more babies came, my body would go through the same motions of growing smaller getting to the point of desirability for my husband, and then pregnant with my next child to repeat the process: larger belly, larger thighs, a larger butt, and engorged breasts. Delivery offered the same results as the first time: a nice place to set my baby on what was once my globe-like belly, now a soft squishy place for a baby to lie. Once again, the growing breasts to feed my baby.
As my children grew and my motherhood role changed, I was now with toddlers and young adults. My body now served different purposes. My still squishy body made great places to cuddle and lay. My body was soft like pillows, not hard like a warrior. I recall the shame of my body shape. It felt like my body shame consumed my life. No longer wanting to wear bathing suits. No longer wanting to go in the pool. Watching from the sidelines. Instead of being proud of the body that created these three individuals, I was ashamed of the lumpy, bumpy, stretch-marked body.
As my children aged, my shame increased. Wearing anything less than long pants and baggy tops was all you would see. I completely missed the point that my body was an instrument, an instrument of God, which would change with each new phase of my life. Now that times are different, and my children are grown, I see that my body is once again being prepared for a new place in my life. A place where they no longer need me. Now is the time to prepare for being strong for the next phase.
As I look into the future I can see that my body will change again: my hair color will change, and my skin will change as it becomes thinner with age. I will see spots appear from sun damage and with that thought, I smile. A smile knowing that I am prepared for the next phase of my life, being a grandma.
As the years continue, my body will continue to change and start to decay. This earth is not my final resting place. My final body will become a heavenly body, a body at home with my father in heaven.
"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee, he has given us his Holy Spirit. So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body."
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 NLT
Closing Prayer
Father God,
You have blessed me immensely. You have blessed me physically, even when I do not see it. Your love for me has prepared me for every step of my life and I know that I do not show the appreciation Your creation deserves. Father, help me see the blessing of my earthly body and use it to do Your work here on earth.
Amen
Homework
How have you hated and abused your body over the years?
What will you do to show love to the body that God gave you for this earthly journey?
What do you look forward to when you enter your Heavenly body?
