Monthly Archives: August 2024

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“Fearfully and wonderfully made”


Psalm 139:13-15

13For You formed my inward parts;
You [f]covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for [g]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My [h]frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

God created you and me, in my mind there is no disputing that. We are also all created different from each other. We are all impacted by external forces as well as by the way we were created. When we are born, we were exactly the way God intended us to be, without any environmental influences but it is not that way for long. As we grow and mature, we are bombarded by other people’s opinions, expectations, and judgements, not to mention situations beyond our control. We begin, little by little, to change who God created us to be.  These can be positive changes but, unfortunately, are often times negative. Most people seem to lose the childish, free-spirited, carefree nature that they were born with, and that God intended for us. These experiences and interactions can be the lenses through which we see and react to the world around us for the rest of our lives. For example, if we were verbally abused or neglected by family members, we can begin seeing the world through the lense of distrust or with expectations that others will treat us badly as well. This can lead to a lense of withdrawing from interactions with people that you don’t know well and ultimately believing that you are an introvert when the truth is that is not who God created you to be.

The only part of us that maintains all the attributes of who God created us to be is our spirit. We were created in God’s image so it’s not surprising that we are three-part beings. We are a spirit, we live in a body, and possess a soul.  The soul, which was alive at birth, is the part of us that we operate out of until we receive Jesus as our savior and redeemer. The soul is the part of us that has the lenses that were developed as a result of living in this fallen world. When we receive Jesus into our hearts our spirit is awakened and begins communing with God.  As we grow and mature in love and relationship with God our spirit strengthens, and we have the opportunity to begin stripping away those lenses and returning to who God created us to be. God, in His wisdom, knows how and when to bring up a wrong belief about ourselves, about people, or about the world so that we, in union with Him, can chose to return to the person God created us to be one lense at a time. However, we have to choose to operate out of our spirit rather than our soul. It is easy for me to shift between the two. For me, I can tell when I have slipped back into soulish behavior when I get frustrated or am not operating out of love. This is much more frequent than I would like to admit. I am a work in progress for sure.

He is gracious and gentle as He works with us. It is His will that we partner with Him and make steps toward becoming our true selves. For myself, I can say, that it isn’t only His will for me but my fervent hope that, before I die, I can look in the mirror and see the “fearfully and wonderfully made” creation that He intended. Can you imagine how affirming that will be? It makes me excited just to consider that possibility. How about you?

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God is love


God is love.

God is good.

Your experience might currently be contrary to these statements. I can’t know what is happening in your life, but I know that these two statements are true even when I don’t understand. They aren’t just true because they are in the bible. They aren’t just true because I, and perhaps you, have experienced the truth of them.

I have and yet I didn’t think I did.

There have been times when I experienced His provision or protection, or healing and I was so sure that He is love and that He is good.

But then there were other times that I didn’t. And I felt alone and forgotten and forsaken. I’m not going to lie. Those times were very hard and very confusing. I wish I could say that I never lost my faith and hope but I very much did. Maybe not lost but it seemed very small and shriveled like it would never recover. I drew very far from Him because I was angry and hurt that my prayers weren’t answered the way I thought that they should be and the way that I thought that He would. It took me several years to recover from the time that I felt thrown away.

4 years ago, I was at a bible school that very much believed in healing and operating in the gifts of the Spirit. They frequently taught on and had guest speakers that operated in the gift of healing. I saw people healed.  I had previously been healed of cervical pre-cancer, so I fervently believed in Gods power to heal. I guess I forgot about His omniscience, immutability, and sovereignty.  I forgot that sometimes the answer to prayer is not now, or even no. God knows the end from the beginning. He knows the plans He has for me and how He needs to help me achieve the level of maturity to be able to consistently and unwaveringly walk in all that He has for me.

I can look back over the last 4 years and see His hand moving in many areas of my life. While during that time He and I didn’t have the same level of intimacy and communication that I previously had, I can now see that He was calling me into another level of trust in Him and a deeper level of intimacy. Offering me the opportunity to overcome my disappointment and use it as the floor to my next level with Him. To “level up” as it were.  

Isn’t that what a good Father does? He loves us into new levels of maturity. So that we can walk in the confident assurance that He is good and that His love never falters or fails.