So I have an intolerance to gluten and dairy. And in moderation, normally eating either, I’m fine. That was truly my main worry leaving for this journey. I didn’t know what kind of food options I would have going across the world for 9 months and 9 months is a long time to not have control over my diet. I haven’t had too many problems since being gone but there has been a few instances where my body has had to deal with it. And the overall not feeling so great if I have too much has been a constant struggle for years.
It sounds so simple, just don’t eat gluten and dairy. Yeah my body would love me and everything would be much better. And I’ve definitely tried that. I’ve taken them in and out of my diet since all my health issues started when I was 13, trying to figure out what’s best. It sounds so stupid how something that seems so small affects you so much. But I think it’s deeper than that. The Lord has shown me actually how much deeper it is than that. He’s taught me big lesions through these intolerances.
In Malaysia, I didn’t eat that much gluten or dairy, just every now and then but since being in India, we’ve had a lot of gluten (which has always been the worse intolerance). And man my body was not doing too well because of it. I decided on my own I was going to take a break from it and not have any gluten for the rest of December. I just wanted to have a set goal I could stick to. The day after I decided this, the Lord really put it on my heart to go bigger than that and to give it up completely.
I think sometimes it’s hard for me to look at myself as a temple for the Lord. I think of real temples. They’re everywhere in all of the places we’ve been. First of all, they’re a work of art. The amount of detail and time and effort and so many other things that goes into it. It’s crazy how beautiful they are. All temples are different. There are rules that if you don’t follow, you can’t enter. You have to look presentable in different ways, cover your knees, take your shoes off, etc. They don’t want you to bring anything unclean entering the temple of that “god”.
The Lord says our bodies are His temple.
Why wouldn’t I treat it as such? Why would I want to bring anything unclean into my temple?
If gluten is unclean to my body, I don’t want it entering.
It’s not that the Lord couldn’t take something so small like an intolerance away. It’s not that the Lord isn’t faithful. I just don’t think it’s in His will to take it away from me. It’s just a part of my story. And that’s cool because it’s a constant choice everyday, multiple times a day actually, to choose Him. I can obey Him in the simplest of ways, like not eating gluten. Because it’s not good and it’s not clean to come into my temple, which is His. It sounds easier than it is, gluten is in what seems like everything. And sounds like an easy lesson to learn, but it’s taken me almost 6 years to figure out. But the Lord is faithful. He never once stopped being faithful, and He continues to show me just how faithful He is.
Gluten for me always felt like a real sacrifice. I think that’s why it’s the one the Lord asked me to give up. Maybe one day I’ll have to give dairy up too, but that will be a different story.
He’s the One who satisfies me. Not any food or anything else, just Him.
