A Healthy Pattern Followed Brings Health and Biblical Wellness
The Bible gives us a model of a healthy pattern of our daily lives to give us the opportunity for Biblical Wellness. Sleep, eat and drink, sleep eat and drink. Our Lord created this pattern. He knows what we need and when. And throughout history God creates, He makes promises, and He sets provisions. Let’s take a walk back through creation and history through the scope of “wellness”. We see this example in First Kings.
1 Kings 19:4-10 “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.”
You catching a pattern here? This pattern of rest, eating and drinking brings nourishment and wellness to our physical bodies. In the very beginning, God created a frequent rhythm for work and rest for us.
Genesis 1:5 “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”
Rest is a Good Thing
Sleep, rest, whatever you want to call it, is a good thing. We see in many places of the Bible sleep being referenced and not as a bad thing. It’s a natural part of how He created us and built us to function. We can learn about the importance of sleep in the many Bible verses. In Genesis, the ‘book of creation’, “sleep” alone is referenced 5 times. Rest has always been a part of our design and wellbeing.
Ecclesiastes 5:12 “Sweet is the sleep of a laborer”
Genesis 2:21 “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.”
Genesis 15:12 “As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.”
Genesis 28:11 “And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.”
Genesis 28:16 “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
Genesis 31:40 “There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.”
Water is The First Priority
After creating a rhythm for rest, the next focus we find is on water. It was the first thing added to the creation of the earth. Water is necessary for all of God’s creation and our bodies need fresh water everyday to function properly. Drink plenty of water everyday and be refreshed.
Genesis 1:6 “And God said, “Let there be an expanse[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
Food is Presented in Two Phases
Next, He creates food in 2 phases. He creates food A which consists of Carbs and fat. Then he created food B which consists of Protein. He created everything we need for healthy living. I like to call this Biblical Wellness.
Food A – Carbs and fat
Gen 1:11-12 “And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
Food B – Protein
Gen 1:30 “ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.”
Gods Rhythm Brings us Wellness
Now let’s recap here. God has just created:
Rest Rhythm
Water
Food
Kinda seems like some random stuff to create, right? Pretty but what’s the purpose? …..US! Now here WE come into the picture, which is even more interesting to look back at the order here. He KNEW what we needed before we even got here. He didn’t create us and then say ‘oh snap, they’re tired, they’re thirsty, they’re hungry – lemme put something together’. He prepared everything we’d need BEFORE we got here. The ultimate planner. The ultimate KNOWER!
Genesis 1:26 – 31 “ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
God Created What We Need for Wellness
Ok, so He created it, but how do we really know we NEED it? Here’s some more proof if I haven’t already convinced you:
1 Samuel 30:11 “They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, 12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.”
Key words here – “HIS SPIRIT REVIVED”. Nuff said. Now, let’s venture down a few historical alleys.
The Promises of the Promised Land
Deuteronomy contains one of the 1st and 2nd promises of the Promised Land. Water and Food Promises….in that order!
Deuteronomy 8:7 “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills,”
Deuteronomy 8:8 “a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.”
Provisions for the Israelites
In Exodus 15 we see the 1st and 2nd provision for the Israelites in their 40 year wandering. God provided Water and Food Provisions….same things in the same order!
Exodus 15:22 “Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Then the waters of Marah were made sweet to drink.”
Exodus 16:4 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.”
These are things our ‘temples’, our bodies, were built to need from the very get go! Is it any surprise that studies these days have proven just that:
The human body cannot go more than 3 days without water.
The human body cannot go more than 3 weeks without food.
God seems to provide water for His people first and food second. Maybe because He knows what’s most critical and provides in that order. Maybe because He created us so He knows the inner functioning of our temples. And of course don’t forget the cyclical night rhythm to rest. Let’s remember Jehovah-Jireh. He is Our Provider
