Day 326: The Blessing of a Created Life

Psalm 139:13-16
“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.”

Growing up I couldn’t understand why God had created me the way He did, with so many physical flaws to my way of thinking—extremely fair skin, freckles, a short, somewhat pudgy body that, after puberty, turned into a skinny shape, straight hair, and a huge gap between my two front teeth. I was disappointed that God didn’t do such a great job when it came to creating me. Over time I learned how to compensate by staying out of the sun to protect my delicate skin and to prevent more freckles; I learned to choose clothes that would compliment my shape and height; I permed my lifeless hair to give it some body; braces for my teeth worked wonders on my smile.

Finally in my thirties I came to a place where I began to appreciate how God had created me and was able to count my blessings for all of my less-than-perfect physical attributes, and to even thank Him for the way I was fearfully and wonderfully made. The Grand Designer chose my eye, hair and skin color, He chose my gender and size, my frame, from the inside out and knitted me together to be the exact human being He desired me to be—all for His purposes—created and chosen to be His.

No matter the many flaws, inside and out, how can I not thank my heavenly Father for the blessing of this created life? I imagine there are many of you who have felt as I have, that the “earth suit” you have been given isn’t exactly how you would have designed it. We, dear readers, are who we are by God’s magnificent, divine design and glorious grace! Let us thank Him for creating us for His pleasure and purpose and make the commitment to live for His praise!

May this song by Matt Redman be our prayer of thanksgiving and commitment today.

So fearfully and wonderfully made
How could they say there is no God?
Reminded every breath that I take
It’s by Your hand I have been formed
So what am I going to do with this life You gave me?
What could I do but live for Your praise?

You gave me this breath
And You gave me this strength
And every day I’ll live to obey You
With all of my heart, with all of my soul
Let every breath I’m breathing display You God

There’s elegance in all you create
Your grand designs leave us amazed
The wonders of the way we’ve been made
Speak of Your power, tell of Your grace
So what am I going to do with this life You gave me?
What could I do but live for Your praise?

So what am I going to do with this life You gave me?
What am I going to do with this life?
What I am I going to do in these days You’ve ordained?
What am I going to do with this life?