Editor's note: Enjoy today's devotion written for FaithGateway by Kim Gargano, author of Holy & Hormonal.
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I can still remember the way the steering wheel felt under my hands—leathery and unmoving as I squeezed my frustration out. Watching my knuckles turn white I thought, “Why do I feel like this? Where is this anger coming from? I must be crazy.” I felt out of control of my emotions and at the mercy of my fluctuating hormones. But then I checked my period tracker app and it all made sense.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV reads,
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”
Our menstrual cycles also go through different seasons, in fact there’s four phases that mimic nature’s seasons: winter (menstrual phase), spring (follicular phase), summer (ovulatory phase), and fall (luteal phase). Just as creation moves through seasons of rest, growth, blooming, and release, so do our bodies. Learning to honor these rhythms instead of fight against them allow us to not only step into alignment with God’s perfect design, but learn how to steward our bodies well. Let’s take a journey through each season to understand what your body is doing, how you can support it, and most importantly, how to connect with God through it.
Menstrual Phase (Winter: A Time for Peace)
What’s happening in your body
- The corpus luteum gets reabsorbed into the body
- The uterus sheds the endometrial lining, causing you to bleed (a.k.a., your period)
- Hormones are at their lowest
The menstrual phase marks day 1 of your cycle and lasts anywhere from three to seven days. Because your body exerts a ton of energy to shed the uterine lining, feeling bloated, exhausted, fatigued, or “blah” is normal. Your main sex hormones estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest, so it’s important to honor your body’s cues for rest and repair. Rather than fight and push through your day running on empty, receive Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28-30:
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
This is your body’s “winter”, a time for peace.
It’s a time to pause, cozy up on the couch, grab your Bible, throw some worship music on and sit in the stillness of the Lord’s presence.
Follicular Phase (Spring: A Time to Dance)
What’s happening in your body
- Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) stimulates follicles in the ovaries to mature
- Estrogen rises as it gets the uterus ready for a potential fertilized egg
- Energy levels rapidly climb
Estrogen, a.k.a. the “hype girl” starts to wake from her slumber and gets the party going around day 5. Estrogen brings out your natural glow, sharpens creativity, fuels your workouts, and even heightens your sense of desire and connection. This is why you may feel your best right after your period! From days 6 to 13, the pituitary gland in your brain is sending signals to your ovaries to start maturing eggs. Eventually, one egg reaches maturation and becomes the dominant egg that will be released during ovulation. Use this rise in energy to your advantage. As your body is bursting forth with new life this “spring” season, ask the Lord what he wants to bring forth in you—maybe it’s starting a podcast, writing a book, hosting a Bible study, or joining a serve team. Whatever prayers you’ve been praying, press into them here and watch what God does. Isaiah 43:19 says:
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
God is surely doing a new thing in you.
Ovulatory Phase (Summer: A Time to Embrace)
What’s happening in your body
- LH rapidly surges and releases the dominant egg
- The dominant egg makes its journey through the fallopian tube, marking your fertile window
- The uterine lining becomes thicker to prepare for a potential pregnancy
The ovulatory phase is short and sweet, lasting only a few days, but buckle up because it’s about to get spicy! Estrogen reaches it’s peak and testosterone kicks in to add the heat—it’s prime connection time. Known as your “summer”, a time to embrace, this is your hottest time of the month, physically because estrogen makes your temperature rise slightly, and physiologically as your libido increases and your fertile window opens. If you’re married, be fruitful and multiply! But for the single ladies, this phase can be challenging. Either way, this is time to connect—with your family, friends, church community, co-workers—to show the love of Christ to the world. Pray bold prayers, engage in intercession, pay for a stranger’s coffee. Meditate on Matthew 20:28:
Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Take this time to serve those around you.
Luteal Phase (Fall: A Time to Plant)
What’s happening in your body
- The sac that once held the dominant egg transforms into the corpus luteum which produces progesterone
- Your body determines if pregnancy has occurred
- Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) arises if estrogen is too high, and progesterone is too low
The luteal phase often gets a bad rap, known for its PMS and icky feelings, but it’s deeply purposeful. This phase typically lasts two weeks, from day 18 to 28 on average. Progesterone is working to make your womb hospitable for a potential pregnancy, making the uterine lining thick and nutritious. Progesterone, a.k.a. the “chill girl” is naturally a calming hormone, causing you to feel more relaxed. You may notice that you feel more introverted or introspective. That’s by design. This is a great time to pray David’s prayer in Psalm 139:23-24:
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
This is your “fall” season, a time to plant. Plant prayers, desires, and dreams into the soil of your heart. Write a letter to yourself from God, journal, spend time in silence and solitude, and shift from doing to being.
It’s in the quiet moments that God often does something miraculous.
That moment in my Honda Civic taught me what no Sunday school ever had—for everything there is a season. There’s a time for you to weep in your car about how your hormones are making it hard for you to have faith and there’s a time to dance at a high energy worship night. Our menstrual cycle reveals the space God holds for our ups and downs, our rhythms of work and rest, and our moment of breaking down so that new growth can take root. Because you were never meant to choose between being holy and hormonal. You were made to be both—holy in your spirit, hormonal in your humanity, and held together by a God who honors it all.
Written for FaithGateway by Kim Gargano, author of Holy & Hormonal.
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Your Turn
If you’re asking Why do I feel like this? you are not alone. You were made to be holy and hormonal! God honors it all! ~ Laurie McClure, FaithGateway Women