I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. --Psalms 139:14 NIV
Whenever I see that word “fearfully.” I get that negative feeling, just because of our usual usage of that base word. Then, I get to pause and take joy in the Hebrew meaning, what the psalmist was really saying! The word we translate as fearfully is “yare”. It does not mean the kind of fear that we associate with being afraid. The Hebrew word here means “with great reverence, heartfelt interest, and deep respect.”
It so amazes me, humbles me, at how my God took such a personal and deliberate approach when forming each of us within our mothers’ bodies! I want to weep at the tenderness in the Passion translation of these verses:
”You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside, and wove them all together in my mother’s womb. I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking. It simply amazes me to think about it! How thoroughly you know me, Lord! You even formed every bone in my body when you created me in the secret place, carefully, skillfully shaping me from nothing to something. You saw who you created me to be before I became me! Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book.“
Psalms 139:13-16 TPT
I am daily humbled and amazed that the Creator of all things hears my individual thoughts, my questions, my words of praise, my doubts and fears, and He values them. He cares about my pain, my sorrows, and loves when I turn to Him for comfort and to be thankful. Me. One child. Among billions! And He is doing all these things for each of us, everyone I know and love, and every single soul worldwide. Including those who don’t believe in Him.
Does this just blow you away, too? And to know He knew me before I was conceived, then growing into the baby within my mother. He has been with me every step of this journey in coming to Him. He has cried with me, laughed with me, celebrated with me, held me when I was hurt or when I mourned. He has waited patiently for me to turn to Him for all things, and then rejoiced when I did!
I am THAT important to Him! Regardless of what others may think! I matter. YOU are that important to Him. YOU matter! We are fearfully and wonderfully made!
I cut my finger the other afternoon while chopping some bell peppers. It was a little sore that afternoon, but I forgot about it. There isn’t even a sign of it today! “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
We have all learned how white blood cells work to fight infection and heal wounds. He thought about that and planned for it when he formed Adam.
This Almighty Father, the Maker of all things, planned for healing my physical wounds, and even more importantly, my spiritual wounds, way back “In the beginning.”
Thank you, my Father God! For I am fearfully and wonderfully made!