Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Psalm 139: 5-16 (NIV): You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your 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.

    God doesn’t micro-manage our every move, but he goes before us and follows behind us as we go through our lives. He is in ultimate control. Somehow his sovereignty overrides our free will. We do have a free will, yet he has ordained all of our days for us. Only God is wise enough to understand this, but somehow he does.

    God sees our first day and our last day, and every day in between. He also saw us as we were being formed in the womb. God knows how many days we will live and how many hairs we have on our heads. (Matthew 10:30). He knows everything about us. This is why we need not fear. He’s got this!

    When something happens to us, it is only with his permission, and God is always up to something good. We may not understand it at the time, and it may not be pleasant or seem fair at the time, but God has a plan. Paul said all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28). God said he knows the plans he has for us, to prosper us and not to harm us. (Jeremiah 29:11). It’s important to remember that when Jeremiah wrote this Word from God, Israel had 80 more years of captivity to go. But God had plans and was encouraging them to trust his timing. It is also important to remember that Romans 8:29 tells us that what is good is something that makes us more like Christ. That is God’s ultimate goal for us.

    God is outside of time. He sees all of History before him, and nothing is a surprise to him. He knows what has happened to us, what is happening to us, and what will happen to us. He is watching as we live our lives. He is guiding us toward his purpose for us. When we follow him, our lives are so much smoother and less painful. We are fearfully and wonderfully made; we are created to heal and to thrive. We can’t escape from God’s presence and we can’t escape his ultimate will. We may run, but we can’t hide. Trust God – he knows you better than you know yourself, and yet he loves you completely.