Have you ever been in one of those moods? The ones where you think, “Nobody really cares about me.” Or, “There’s nothing special about me.” These are not God’s thoughts about us. This is not how God sees us. Each of us is important – uniquely designed by a loving creator. Though, as we are jokingly warned, some of us may have been created as a warning to others…
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up n the morning you are still with me!
Psalm 139:13-18Psalm 139:13-18
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
13 You are the one who put me together inside my mother's body, 14 and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt. 15 Nothing about me is hidden from you! I was secretly woven together deep in the earth below, 16 but with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do. 17 Your thoughts are far beyond my understanding, much more than I could ever imagine. 18 I try to count your thoughts, but they outnumber the grains of sand on the beach. And when I awake, I will find you nearby.
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All joking aside, these verses say a mouthful about what God thinks of us. Most of us only approach these verses with a mental association to anti-abortion rhetoric, but the intended message is much richer. More than just an argument against killing an innocent, the Psalmist beautifully illustrates his thoughts into God’s creative activity. As he thinks about how God has prepared him, guided him, protected him, he is left in awe.
Consider this: The writer of this poem could have chosen any time of his life to illustrate God’s loving care and concern. He could have pointed out a time when he was sick and God healed him, or a time when he did not know which way to turn, and received a word from God’s Spirit to direct him. So many other moments he might have shared – yet he chose this one, one he can’t even remember! When you think about it, it is one moment in life when we are completely dependent on someone else. At any other time in our life we might boast in some skill, some power, some innate ability that pulled us through. But in the womb we are utterly helpless. Yet God is present and at work. He not only sees, but carefully charts out the days of life in advance, that we can rest in his promises. We have nothing to fear, even in our weakest day.
That God would choose to play a part tells us that we are valuable to him. He may appear difficult to approach in our sin, but he is not aloof. Even the most hardened in sin receives the benefits of God’s loving provision. How much more the one who is carefully following, making the most of every opportunity to offer the good news about Jesus. Such a one can be comforted in any circumstance by the knowledge of God’s presence.
That is what “identity” should really remind us of as followers of Jesus. Presence. Our identity is bound up in the fact that the Spirit is a constant presence in our lives. Our “purpose” is wrapped up in doing the same works, and greater, that Christ did. We were even prepared to do them. We need only ask ourselves how the Father would respond to those around us, and we know what we must do. This is how we know who we are. It is not possible for us to separate our activity from our being. They are wrapped up together.
Turning to the end, the writer offers: “And when I wake up in the morning you are still with me.” It is like a sigh of relief. A thank you. It represents a whole life made whole by God, having recognized that if God was present and involved at birth, he is still present.
Still active.
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