Read
Reflect
I was saddened to read that the daughter of a famous sporting couple had passed away. She was only 33 and beautiful inside and out. What could have happened to cut short her promising life? It was later revealed that she’d spent years battling an eating disorder. I can only imagine her torment and the distress of her family and friends as they watched this beautiful young woman slip away.
Eating disorders involve a complex array of factors and I won’t attempt to examine all of those here. However, I can’t help thinking that if we truly understood how beautiful we are in God’s sight, we could more easily refute the lies and deceptions of the enemy that continually remind us of our imperfections.
Today’s passage gives us an intimate snapshot of our Creator’s point of view.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well (vv. 13-14).
I love the way verse 15 is expressed in the Amplified Bible:
My frame was not hidden from You, When I was being formed in secret, And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colours] in the depths of the earth.
Can you imagine the joy on God’s face as he wove us together, embroidering us with many colours? Regardless of what the world says, regardless of what the enemy whispers in our ears, we are of infinite value and worth. We bear the stamp of God’s image. May that truth permeate our lives and give us a new perspective on every person we meet.
Pray
Dear Lord, it’s so easy to get caught up with the world’s view of what we should look like and be like. Please instil in us a deeper sense of your love for us and help us to value others the way that you value us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Ponder
Q1 Meditate on Psalm 139:13–16. What does it mean for you personally to know that you are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’?
Q2 Read Ephesians 3:14–21. What difference would it make in your life if you were to fully grasp the depth of God’s love for you? How might you reflect that love to others?
Photo by Jill Wellington on Pixabay.
Scriptures from the NIV and Amplified versions of the Bible. Click here for the copyright notice.
6 Responses
Thank you, Nola. So needful to hear this.
Where did you get that great pic? It would look good on my next book. Love rosanne
Hi Rosanne – Thanks you for that. I get most of my blog pics from Pixabay, as they’re free for commercial and non-commercial use. I’ll private message you the link to that photo. God bless Nola
Such a poignant post on such a devastatingly cruel illness. I’m going to be my perfectly frank self and admit that I battled an eating disorder in my late teens/early adulthood. I was both anorexic and bullimic. No-one and nothing could have saved me but God. I was in a spiral of pain, despair, humiliation and shame. I weighed perhaps 43 kilos at one point and look back on those photos now and see the truth of how close to death I might have come. It’s difficult to describe my healing process because it literally happened overnight. God ‘grabbed’ me with His love and showed me the beauty of my inner being. And He convinced me in a heartbeat that THAT is all that matters. I knew in an instant that my worth is not tied up with the expectations of beauty shaped by the world. My recovery was swift. Overnight, I learned to value myself for who I am and for the potential that God placed within me. I was strengthened and I never looked back. And yet, I wonder still, why me, Lord? Why did you heal me in a heartbeat when so many others fight and fight and fight…and eventually die? I’m not special at all. I’m infinitely grateful for His grace…and I wish, with all my heart, I could impart that gift to others. Beautiful post, Nola. Thank you.
Melinda, thank you so much for having the courage to share your story. What an amazing testimony of the truth of God’s word. I also know others who have had a longer battle with an eating disorder and it is hard to know why healing comes more quickly to some. But it doesn’t change the truth of who we are in God, and the beauty that he sees in each of us. Thank you for sharing your story. I’m sure it will touch many others as it has me. Take care xx
I was so sad to hear this, too. When I was asked to do the Children’s Address in church in January, this was the Scripture the Lord gave me to share with the children (and adults) – particularly verse 14. I just could not get away from it.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well – Psalm 139:14
Thanks for that, Heather. It’s always been a very special scripture for me too. A good one to keep going back to so that we can remind ourselves of who we are in God. Thanks for commenting.