FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE

by Hallie Gipson

God’s Word tells us in Psalm 139:14 that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” But as my body ages, I find myself struggling to believe that and hesitant to even admit I am not acting as if I believe it! Can I get a show of hands if this is your struggle, too? Don’t worry – I won’t tell!

The psalmist also gives thanks to God because he is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” WOW – now there’s a humbling prayer! Can I really thank God for how I am made – how I look – how I’m ‘put together’ physically? Jokingly I might say I could if given enough hours of self-esteem counseling and cosmetic surgery! In reality, however, I have not been giving thanks for how God made me. I have been looking to diet, exercise, or some really cute outfit in an attempt to look like I think I should look.

Don’t get me wrong! I’m not saying we shouldn't eat healthy, exercise, or dress in an attractive and God-honoring way. But what is our motivation and where is our focus?

You may be wondering as you read this just how I arrived at this train of thought. It began during my quiet time the other morning. Although I’m typically an early riser, this particular morning I was awake and sitting on the sun porch even before the sun began to peek over the trees. I was a first-hand observer – and hearer – as the world around me began to waken. The birds began to chirp and light on the feeders in search of their first meal of the day. Almost every flowering plant in the back yard was in bloom. Everywhere I looked there was a burst of color. Each flower was unique and individually beautiful. Yes, all of creation was definitely praising God!

“I will give thanks to You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

(Psalm 139:14 NASB)

 “ . . . fearfully and wonderfully made.”  Each person is God’s creation and that makes everyone unique and beautiful to God! God has not made a mistake in ‘crafting’ my body or yours to be what it is. He created me for His purpose and only when I have right-thinking about God, can I have right-thinking about myself.

God’s Word has some very specific things to say on the subject of our body:

·         “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27 NASB)

·         “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1 NASB)

·         “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

(1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NASB)

·         “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”

(1 Corinthians 12:27 NASB)

·         “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them.”

(Ephesians 2:10 NASB)

So, do I offend God when I say I dislike how my body looks as it ages? I believe the answer is ‘yes’. His Word says I am “fearfully and wonderfully made”! God the Creator made me to glorify Him with my physical body. He didn't say, “If you feel good about how you look, glorify Me” or “If you are young and healthy, serve Me”. He says I am “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” and that “your (my) body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you (me)”.

There will certainly be days when my earthly ‘tent’ groans with the aches and pains of aging, when I struggle to fit into my favorite jeans, and when all the wrinkle cream in the world won’t undo the life-wrinkles I see etched on my face. But praise God, there will be a day when I will be given a new body.

As a child of God, My Sovereign Creator, I will one day have a resurrection body.         I Corinthians 15:40-49 (NIV) assures me of that:

V. 40 -- “There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.

Vs. 42- 49 – “So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”, the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth, and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”

I look forward to that day, but while here on earth I will give thanks to Him for I am “fearfully and wonderfully made”!