Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; You works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. "
Psalm 139:13-16

A few years ago I was really impacted by these verses and as I meditate on them I continue to learn from them. These verses tell us that God was present in our mother's wombs forming every single part of our being. They also tell us that He fashioned and created us with a specific purpose and had a specific plan for our lives. It does not even matter what the circumstances were surrounding our births. Some of us are fortunate to be a product of our parent's love and to have been planned and longed for. Some of us some of us were accidentally conceived or even born to parents who were not married. Yet, these verses tell us that God was still present and that He fashioned us after His own design, for His own glory, and that to Him we were not an accident that just happened. If you are a part of the group that was an accident or born to parents who conceived you out side of marriage, it is imperative that you grasp this truth that you were not a surprise or a cause of shame to our Heavenly Father. He planned and created you and He did that in His unlimited love.

Think about what it means to be created by God. It means that He determined what each of us would look like. When we look in the mirror and wish we were taller we need to remember that God chose how tall we would be. He chose the color of our hair, our eyes, and our skin. He chose how what our smile would look like and how curly or straight our hair would be. He chose how big our bones would be and how long our legs would be. He is even responsible for the quirky little things we all have like whether like whether we wrinkle our noses when we smile or not, whether we can wink with one eye or tend to blink with both, or whether we can curl our tongues or not. He is responsible for how athletic we are or if we prefer the more quiet activities of life. He determined whether we would be able to draw, sing, act, or dance.

God created our inmost being…that means God is responsible for how intelligent we are and whether we are good at math and science or at English and the more creative subjects. He is responsible for the things that make us passionate. God is even responsible for our chemical makeup. That means He largely determined the kinds of things that would make us laugh, cry, get angry, feel anxious, or sing and dance a little jig for joy. As our creator, He is also responsible for how we sound when we speak, how we laugh, or how we sing. There is not a single part of our body, soul, or spirit that wasn't formed by our God.

We don't realize that when we hate our bodies, our personalities or the other parts that God created it is like we are shaking our fist in God's face and saying that He didn't do a good job. The psalmist understood that he was a wonderful work of God. He did not question God's goodness by disliking himself and berating his looks. He knew God's design was very intentional and that his body was a marvelous reflection of God. He also knew that along with God 's creating him that God had ordained plans for his life that only him with his unique personality and character could fulfill. When David wrote today’s verses enemies who hated him and hated the God that he served surrounded him. Yet, he understood that their hatred was about their hearts and not something in him. He was still was able to cling to the fact that God created him and ordained his days.

How do you feel when you look in the mirror? Are you able to praise God for fearfully and wonderfully making you? How are you when you look deep inside of yourself? Do you appreciate the personality and the heart that has certain passions with which God created you? How are you when you look at the talents and abilities God gave you? Do you compare yourself with others and feel shortchanged or do you realize that God created you with just the right blend of body, soul, personality, and gifts to live out the plans He has for you? You are truly one of His marvelous works…are you able to believe it?


Prayer: Father, so often we don't like ourselves and when we look into the mirror we fail to see what you see. Help each of us to recognize the beauty of your handprints on both our insides and our outsides. Help us to realize that your plans are marvelous and that each of us is the perfect person both inside and out to fulfill the plans you have laid for us. Help us to remember that no matter what the circumstances were around our births that we were created to be the joy of Your heart and to bear your image to the world. We praise you because we are fearfully and wonderfully made and because your works are marvelous…we know it full well. Amen.