What Your Gut Can Teach You about God’s Design

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God’s beautiful design is everywhere. Psalm 95:4-5 and 19:1 talk about God’s glory, from the earth’s depths to the mountain peaks and skies. I feel God’s presence every time I’m in nature. But after 20 years in the health industry, I’ve come to appreciate His creation even more when I look closely at our bodies. Nothing says “GOD MADE THIS” quite like learning how the body works. And thanks to new scientific technology, we can see and learn this in ways we never could before, at microscopic levels. In my experience, God’s design is limitless, and we can see this detail in how our body works, especially in our gut.

To truly appreciate this divine craftsmanship, let’s look at the digestive process and the gastrointestinal tract that carries it out. As we dive into these details, you’ll see how God’s design shows both detail and grace.

God’s Intricate Design in the Digestive Process

Let’s begin this journey in the stomach. Here, the acid is so strong it can even dissolve some metals! In one lab study, razor blades degraded about 37% after 24 hours in simulated stomach fluid. This acid, scientifically known as hydrochloric acid, is strong enough to break down your food and even tough materials. It is designed this way because the acid needs to be strong enough to break down food to a microscopic level so it can move on to your intestine. At the same time, a protective lining called mucosa keeps the acid contained and protects the rest of your body (including the inside of your stomach). Isn’t it intriguing how your body can break down food and animal tissue, but the stomach itself is made of tissue too, and somehow remains perfectly intact? Inside the stomach, different hormones help digest your food. Bile is made in your liver and is stored in your gallbladder, waiting for a signal from a hormone called CCK to be released into your gut to aid in the digestion process. When bile reaches your gut, it helps break down foods like bacon and oils. Other hormones and enzymes join in until the food is ready to move into the intestine.

Before it does, a carefully timed opening lets the food through only when it’s the right size. It’s a bit like Alice in Wonderland taking potions to fit through the tiny door. Only your body doesn’t have to guess which potion to take to transform into the necessary size to pass; it just does it, naturally! If the process stopped here, there would be enough evidence of the divine design behind our stomachs. It still baffles me that we live in an era of artificial intelligence and cutting-edge science, yet we still cannot artificially recreate the happenings in our gastrointestinal tract. God’s detail in designing the process, the balance between breaking down food and protecting our own tissue, and the perfectly sized trap doors that know how to keep food in its place until it is ready to pass without any word from our own intellect. 

The Hidden World Living Inside Your Gut

When food reaches the small intestine, things get particularly creative as it isn’t just our DNA at work. Your intestines are ready to absorb carbs, proteins, fats, and micronutrients at just the right time, but the design doesn’t stop here. There’s also an entire layer of microbes, bacteria, lining your GI tract that are living a symbiotic life with us. And they are doing so in great abundance. In fact, bacterial cells in our bodies outnumber human cells about 13 to 1. These microbes in our gut act like food interpreters. Partially digested food passes through them before it goes into your bloodstream. As they process your food, these microbes create byproducts that impact metabolism, the immune system, hormone balance, and even mood. These life-giving organisms live inside our gut to enhance our well-being. Some strains can sense when your body needs more serotonin, the “happy” neurotransmitter, and make more so your brain has what it needs. In fact, an estimated 90% of our serotonin is made right here in the gut by our microbes.

When we pause to consider these intricate relationships, it becomes clear that such complexity is no accident.

This design and this process are not coincidental; instead, the deeper I dive into our gastrointestinal tract, the more I see the glory of his work. Isn’t it so characteristic of our loving God to give us tiny guardian angels in our gut? These microscopic messengers care for our bodies in ways we don’t even notice. I don’t know when my brain needs more serotonin or how to make it, but God designed these microbes to do that work for us. This gives Psalm 139 (“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.”) and Matthew 10:30 (“And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”) an even deeper meaning. God counted every hair on our heads, and he showed the same care when designing how our bodies work with these microbes.

A Body Designed for Grace and Restoration

Think about times when we haven’t treated our bodies well. Maybe you’ve had a stressful season, barely slept, eaten lots of processed foods, binged, restricted, or ignored your body’s signals. Even then, your gut keeps working for you. It forgives, heals, and keeps doing its job. If your gut has ever been so stressed that it became imbalanced, I've seen through my work that, with intentional care, it can bounce back and restore itself. Every meal you eat can change your gut’s microbial activity by up to 40%. This is a powerful example of grace. Just as God’s forgiveness is always there when we return to Him, our bodies are made to give us another chance. The gut’s ability to recover shows God’s endless mercy, always ready to restore us, even when we don’t deserve it.

This physical renewal mirrors a spiritual truth found throughout Scripture.

The whole Bible tells the story of God’s redeeming love and His grace for us, even when we don’t deserve it and keep turning away. We see this in our bodies, too. We push ourselves, neglect our health, run on little sleep, high stress, and poor nutrition, but our gut still finds ways to heal. This is another wonderful example of God’s grace for us.

Caring for Your Body as an Act of Worship

God created all of this, from the mountaintops to the intricate details of our bodies. One way we can thank Him is by being in awe of His design and stewarding it well. Part of that is providing your microbes with the foods God provided for us!  This includes eating foods God naturally made, such as a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Everyday gifts to our body, like drinking enough water, limiting processed foods and extra sugar, and sleeping, also benefit your microbes. That apple you just ate is more than just an apple. It’s a thank you. It gives your gut’s “guardian angels” what they need to do their job. When we understand these details, caring for our gut becomes more than just being healthy. Caring for your gut can become an act of worship and a way to honor God by caring for the amazing creation He designed and gave us. Every mindful choice to care for your body and gut can be an act of worship, showing adoration and respect for God’s handiwork. And even if we don’t eat perfectly, because that isn’t what this is about, we can trust that God’s grace isn’t a finite resource. God’s grace is guaranteed to be available, as long as we keep searching and surrendering. And so, as you worship God today and thank him for his wonders, don’t forget to stand in awe of how he made the very vessel you move around this earth in. He created to carry you through this life. Isn’t it just like God to weave something so miraculous into something we experience every day?

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages / Ekaterina Goncharova

Jess Brown is a registered dietitian, founder of The Well Collective, and host of the Fuel Her Awesome podcast — but the work she's known for rarely stays on the plate. People come to her for gut healing, hormone balance, or energy boosts; what they find is an invitation to stop white-knuckling their own bodies and trust the One who made them. A board-certified specialist in sports dietetics and eating disorders, Jess built her Empowered Eating Method^TM on a single conviction: healing is almost never just physical. Nutrition is really about the mission it fuels. She writes and speaks on hormone and gut health in addition to the imperative daily work of choosing calm over control when it comes to caring for your body. Jess lives in New Mexico with her husband and two boys, and is often found off on an adventure. She believes your health can be a place you meet God, too. Start here with her Spirit-Led & Well-Fed devotional.