fearfully and wonderfully

"For You created my INMOST being You knit me together in my MOTHERS womb. I praise you because I am FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY MADE. Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139:13-16

And while it's easy to hear the verse and think you know the goodness of God.

I have to truly ask you: Do you live like you are fearfully and wonderfully made?

Do you believe that God's works really and truly are wonderful? Do you know that in the deep bottom of your heart?

Do you understand God's loving whispers towards you? Do you realize He sings over you? Do you realize that you- yes you- absolutely and totally matter to Him?

And if you truly believe that you are that loved, how has that experience of being loved by God changed your life? Because friends, by beholding God's love, that's how our lives are changed into something better. That's how our life gets more beautiful.

About 6 years ago, it was my freshman year of college and I remember my Sabbath school teacher, who I really adored, telling me about her job in the NICU and how she would hold the babies and pray over them. She said that she prayed that the baby would know how loved they were to God. That the babies' sweet parents would love the baby as their own, and would cherish them, and that the baby would grow up to be a child and later an adult that lived like someone loved and cared for.

I've been on my own nursing adventure with God lately and I've been working in the pediatric hospital as well as in the neonatal intensive care unit with beautiful, sweet babies. And seeing the love many parents have for their little baby or child is really a beautiful and quite miraculous experience.

You see, a baby is so needy. A baby can do nothing for itself. And the funny thing is, as adults we are often so selfish- so self-minded. And yet when a baby is born, a husband and wife, suddenly get new names of "mommy" and "daddy". So often their life is changed by this beautiful new crying, pooping, and joy bringing 6 pound creation. And what mommy or daddy wouldn't tell you that they would do anything for their child?

And yet there are times where the world tries to convince us, that we are worth nothing to God. That we are not good enough to be loved. That we are unworthy of grace. And it can be easy to start believing those lies- that you don't matter, that you will never be loved like that. It's like a whirlwind that can spiral into depression, and ultimately hopelessness when you forget your identity in God.

And yet the goodness of God and the certainty of His love for you is so evident. Although Satan strives to make you forget, the Lord sends us daily reminders of Him promises. Oh if we would pick up His book of encouragement- and learn the promises of the Word. Oh that we would go outside, and dwell in His creation, His nature would bless us.

For me, God blessed me with a special couple of "recovery weeks" in the NICU where I spent one on one time loving little babies. And each little baby in the NICU is a living miracle. One of my mothers' told me "Three doctors told us the baby wouldn't live but I had faith God would provide."

Each "itty-bitty baby" is a testimony of a God who CARES about the details of our lives- and about the smallest human creature. Some of these baby were born 24 weeks old (16 weeks short of a term pregnancy). They were not even due to come out of their mother's tummy. And yet before they were born, the Lord knew them. The Lord loved them. And when I look at these babies my heart confirms that God made them fearfully and wonderfully, the same way He made me.

Though the world wants to steal our courage, it wants to take our passion, and our energy, and to fade away our love. Though the devil yells at you, "You're not worth it. You can't do it. You're not loved." The God in heaven reminds us that He created us beautifully and wonderfully made- not to just survive, but to thrive.

I don't know who's reading this- or what your life is like right now- but I promise you one thing, that God is absolutely crazy about you. That He knows everything you've ever been through, He knows everything about you, and yet He chooses to love you anyways. And I hope that this love- that this promise that He is thinking about you, singing over you, covering your sins with His blood- I hope that His love, changes the way you live today and the rest of your life.