Christians don’t need more health trends; we need Biblical clarity. Bible Health isn’t about perfect diets or complicated protocols. It’s about honoring God with the spirit, soul and body He gave you. If that feels right to you, come join us.
Hey y’all, and welcome to Monday Manna!
We’re home. Backpacks are by the door, the school year starts this week, and yesterday we finally got back on live with y’all after skipping last month entirely. Grab your matcha latte, because the reason we went quiet is the same reason we have something to tell you about resilience.
We drove up to Michigan for what was supposed to be our normal two-week family visit. Instead, Mama Z’s father (Papa) became seriously ill. He has frontotemporal dementia, and during our trip he developed pneumonia, sepsis, congestive heart failure, and other complications that required hospitalization and rehabilitation.
Two weeks became five.
Mama Z’s mom (Mimi) suddenly found herself navigating doctors, insurance, medical equipment, home care, and painful decisions about memory care, and she is doing it while watching dementia slowly take the man she has been married to for more than 50 years.
Our family needed to help, and by God’s grace we were able to.
We had 7 children with us, the business still needed attention, and there was yard work, housework, insurance work, and medical work stacked on top of everything else.
But here is what we want you to hear, because it is the whole point: our entire life did not fall apart.
Our marriage stayed strong, our children stayed close, our health stayed stable, we didn’t start recklessly spending money, and we didn’t abandon the way we normally eat and live.
At one point we felt the Lord showing us that He was preserving us, and that the disciplines we had been building for 23 years were the reason one crisis was not able to take out every other area of our lives.
“We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” — Romans 5:3-5
Notice the progression, because Paul is not describing a personality type.
Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, which means resilience is not something you are born with or without. It is something God builds in you while you are walking through the thing you never would have chosen.
That’s the unexpected fruit of living God’s way, and it’s what we spent Sunday’s live teaching through.
The habits you build in ordinary seasons become the strength you lean on when life turns upside down. Biblical resilience is the unexpected fruit of living a godly, disciplined life in Christ Jesus, with guardrails already established, so that when crisis comes, you remain strong enough to serve others instead of allowing every area of your life to crumble.
Dr. Z here.
There is one more piece we shared on the live that we want to put in front of you here, because it may be the most practical thing in this entire issue.
Before we ever left for Michigan, one phrase kept coming out of my mouth. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t know what to do,” “I don’t understand,” “I don’t see the way forward.”
I repeated it so often that it stopped being a description of one unanswered question and became the posture of my heart, and I was confessing helplessness without realizing it.
Then I felt the Holy Spirit correct me. Stop saying that.
The situation did not change overnight, but my confession did, and I started saying “God knows” and “I will know in God’s season” instead. The sleepless nights began to go away, the anxiety began to lift, and by the time Mama Z’s family needed us, I was in a completely different spiritual position than I would have been.
Can you relate?
Here is a word for your Monday before we get into everything else we published since Manna #13…
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” — Proverbs 4:23
The Hebrew word behind “keep” is the same word used for guarding a city, and Solomon is not telling us to have nice feelings about our hearts. He is telling us to post a watch.
This is the week the calendar refills. School starts, the schedule tightens, the fall push begins, and most of us will guard our time, our budgets, and our kids’ schedules while leaving the one thing Solomon named completely unguarded.
Everything downstream flows from the heart. Your words come from there, your decisions come from there, and the confession you rehearse when nobody is listening comes from there too.
So this week, before you guard anything else, guard that.
Notice what you have been repeating about your health, your family, your work, and your future, and ask whether it agrees with what God has already said. Then post the watch, because the springs of life are not coming from your calendar.
Find this helpful? Spread the love…
Eyesight Upgrade: 74% Off iGenics “Tree of Life” Herbal Vision Support
Screen Time Adds Up. Support Macular Health, Visual Function, and Healthy Aging Eyes with Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Antioxidants, and Eye-Focused Nutrients.
Everything we’ve published since Manna #13, all five pieces, right here.
Bible Health is where we teach the why. Over on Natural Living Family this week we taught the how: DIY swaps for brain health, the kitchen, fragrance-free beauty, and sore muscles. Four favorites worth your five minutes:
DIY Shower Cleaner + Emotional Detox Inhaler + Healing Prayer + Lemon Fruit Dip — We put together a portable emotional detox inhaler for calm and letting go, walked through the healing power of prayer for mind, body and spirit, and shared our enzyme-powered shower cleaner that handles soap scum and water spots without the chemical cloud.
Infertility Truth + DIY Joyful Blend + Pregnancy Tips + Chocolate Balls — We tested five common claims about essential oils and pregnancy, including the peppermint and frankincense questions we get asked constantly, and shared the joyful body oil Mama Z first created while she was pregnant.
Creatine Facts + Gym Bag Essentials + Homemade Tea + Veggie Herb Omelet —
We looked at the 5 facts influencers leave out about synthetic creatine, including how the powder is actually manufactured and the long-term research gaps nobody mentions, plus Mama Z’s guide to drying and blending garden herbs into homemade tea.
DIY Dusting Spray + Eucalyptus Oil + Healing Respiratory Illness + Homemade Nut Butter Cups — We covered 8 benefits of eucalyptus oil that go well beyond easier breathing, plus 10 oils for respiratory comfort, which is exactly what you want stocked before the first classroom cold makes it home.
Want more from our Natural Living Family Substack?
Confessions we are trading in this season…
Instead of “I don’t know,” we’re saying, “God knows.”
Instead of “I can’t handle this,” we’re saying, “God is my strength.”
Instead of “We can’t afford it,” we’re saying, “God is our Provider.”
Instead of “My body is broken,” we’re saying, “God is my Healer.”
Instead of “It’s too late,” we’re saying, “God’s timing has never been late.”
Instead of “Nothing will ever change,” we’re saying, “God is already working.”
Instead of “I’m not enough,” we’re saying, “Christ in me is.”
What confession is God asking you to stop repeating?
As always, our hope and prayer is that you experience the abundant life.
~ Dr. Z & Mama Z
P.S. If Bible Health is speaking to you, we would love to have you go deeper with us.
Your subscription is what makes this ministry possible, and what lets us keep putting Scripture-first tools into more homes. We would be honored to have you.
Do you know someone who would be encouraged by this?
Copyright Bible Health. All rights reserved.
The information is for educational purposes only and not medical advice. Statements about health products have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Results may vary. Consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any health product or making changes to your wellness routine.
This content may contain affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we trust and believe in.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.