I am fearfully and wonderfully made

I am fearfully and wonderfully made!  That’s not me being egotistical, that’s me reminding myself.  You see, we live in a world that is always telling us we are not good enough, unless you listen to L’Oreal who tell you ‘you’re worth it’.  However, even this is usually while trying to sell you something to make you look better than you already do, because you are worth it, but not good enough as you are.

One thing I have struggled with my whole life is being good enough, being worth it.  That’s why I need to remind myself constantly: I am fearfully and wonderfully made!  Society has been brain washed into thinking we need to be critical of ourselves.  The Huffington Post recently posted an article about the activist Feminista Jones, looking at the reaction she received on Twitter when she suggested that women should agree with compliments men gave them in the street – the kind of cat calls many women have to endure.  According to the article, if a woman responds ‘yes, I know’ to a compliment such as ‘you look nice’ it doesn’t go down well and it comes down to the expectation that we should show no self-appreciation.  But why?  I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
 
On Easter Day Rev Jeremy Putnam pointed out that the chance of each one of us existing is 1 in 102,685,000.   The Buddhist version of ‘this precious incarnation’ is this: imagine there was one life preserver thrown somewhere in some ocean and there was exactly one turtle in all of the oceans, swimming underwater somewhere.  The probability that you came about and exist today is the same as that turtle sticking its head out of the water right in the middle of that life preserver.  On one try.1 No matter how you look at it, the fact that you, yes you, are here on this earth right now is nothing short of a miracle.
 
The Bible tells us we are not an accident, a random act but something planned out by God the Father, God the Creator.  The one who took time to put each star in its place also planned on you being born at the time you were, and for you to be here on this earth.  With the current rise in awareness of mental health issues, this is really important to understand.  For when we remember that we are not here by random but carefully ‘knit together’ and ‘formed’ by the Creator of the Universe we know we have a purpose.  These words come from a Psalm written by King David (Psalm 139).  It talks of God knowing us inside and out.  Knowing when we sit and when we sleep.  Knowing our every thought.  This is because he created us.  He knows us and wants us to know him.
 
I don’t think I will ever fully comprehend the magnificence of it, but it is what I turn back to whenever I hit a low.  This is why when I state I am fearfully and wonderfully made I’m not throwing my ego around, but reminding myself that I’m not a random act of the world, but planned, loved and wanted by God.
 
The challenge is to live like it.

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Mrs Lydia Remick, LLM
Lydia is a Licensed Lay Minister for All Saints Church, has a passion for living and preaching the gospel, as well as being a keen supporter of Cornwall Roller Derby. She also runs her own Arts and Crafts business.