How Do We Respond When Our Hormones Are Out of Whack?

cramps
headache
hot flashes
acne outbreak
weepiness
short temper
moodiness
nauseous
hung up on the minor things...

Sound familiar? Sound like PMS, a pregnancy, or menopause?

Certainly what happens in our bodies does affect us emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually. We cannot isolate these various dimensions of who we are—they are inseparably intertwined. But we fall into the trap of the Enemy when we justify fleshly, sinful attitudes and responses based on our physical condition or hormonal changes. (DeMoss, 201)

How do you respond when your body is going through its womanly cycles and seasons? Do you feel like you respond well, or do you use those changes in your body as an excuse for poor behavior? We all do it, whether out loud or under our breath, use our physical feelings to justify carnality. What's worse is when our behavior begins to wreck relationships we have with other people.

As with other aspects of nature, God has designed our bodies to function in seasons and cycles. Certainly each season of life has its challenges. One of the consequences of the Fall was that childbearing would be accompanied by sorrow and pain. Childbirth is not the only time those consequences are felt. For example, the difficulties some women experience associated with their menstrual cycle are a practical reminder of our fallen condition. But every monthly cycle is also a reminder that God made us women, and that with our womanhood comes the capacity for being a bearer and nurturer of life. Even as a single woman, I find this to be a gracious and valuable reminder of who I am, why God created me, and how I can best glorify Him here on this earth. (201-202)

Psalm 139:

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

5 You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,"

Even the night shall be light about me;

12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

Luke 12: 7

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

What an incredible thought! Long before you were born, every molecule of your body and every day of your life, from conception to the grave, was carefully thought through and planned by God. He ordained the day you would start menstruation, when and how many times you would be able to conceive, and exactly when you would stop ovulating. He understands exactly what is taking place in your body through every season and change. (202)

Is it conceivable that this wise, loving Creator would be unaware of our hormone levels at any stage of maturity or would have failed to make provision for every season of life? He does not offer an easy or trouble-free process of growth. But He has promised to meet all our needs and to give us grace to respond to the challenges and difficulties associated with every stage of life. (203)

DeMoss, Nancy Leigh: Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free (Chicago: Moody, 2001)