Simply Wonderful

 For you formed my inward parts;  you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.     Psalm 139:13-14 ESV

When I opened my Bible app this morning, this was the verse of the day.  It took me on a fun trip down memory lane...

For just a few moments, I was back on stage, conversing with a puppet about a factory in China called, "My Mother's Womb," where Max the dog puppet claimed he had been made by a man named Yu.  Good memories!

So much has changed!  My kids are now grown.  Last I heard, Max came nose to nose with an actual dog in Brazil and he had to be retired.  Beyond the fun moments of the road years, though, I remember that those were difficult days.  As are the days we're living in now.  It's different now, but still difficult.

In days such as we are now living, it can be so easy to become discouraged.  There's a lot of fear and uncertainty in our world at the moment.  Many things in life simply do not make sense right now.

When I read Psalm 139, my mind always takes me to images of babies, both newborn and preborn.  These are happy images, that speak to a joy and calm I find often missing these days.

I don't know how old David was when he wrote this Psalm.  He wasn't a child, I'm pretty sure.  For all I know, he was old and fat!  And yet, whatever his age, David was able to praise God, while recognizing that whatever his physical condition, David's soul remained confident that as God's creation, he was "wonderful."

"Wonderful," is not what comes to my mind when I look in the mirror these days!  I've been frustrated with a lot of things lately, including the gray hairs and excess pounds that 2020 (and 2021) have brought my way.  The weariness of my soul coupled with the sheer craziness of life, even apart from pandemics and politics, seems to have etched itself permanently into the lines on my face.  I feel anything but fearfully and wonderfully made!

Thankfully, just because I feel something does not make it true.  What is true is what God's Word says is true.  And His Word says that God had all of my days written before I had lived the first of them.  

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.         Psalm 139:16 ESV

There's something very encouraging in that.  While I am worried about so many things, my Lord has already written my days and they are settled.  I have no idea what the next few days will bring.  I'm not even sure what I want to happen.  I'm tired, and discouraged and confused, and too often feeling emotionally unstable, to be honest.  

But my God knows.  And that is enough.  It has to be, because I absolutely don't know.

Today's thought is a simple one, and familiar.  But it is a reminder that I needed today, and perhaps it will encourage you as well.  

Just a thought...