Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

~ Jesse Yow
Photo by Victor Freitas on Pexels.com

The Psalmist writes, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14a). This statement of praise reflects a deep complexity to life that comes with a downside and an upside. The downside includes many things that we don’t understand. For example, when “idiopathic” comes up in your diagnosis, it means that the doctors have no idea what causes your disease or condition. Idiopathic retinopathy, then, means poor retina health, but the doctors do not know why. Under such circumstances, how can we praise God? Perhaps because He is our creator, and He loves us.

But if the downside is puzzling and sometimes confounding, the upside can be amazing. Think about how our eyes work with our brains to process what we see around us. Cameras and advanced optics certainly help, but ultimately it is our eyes that sense an optical signal and our brains that process it for us to see colors, shapes, patterns, and beauty. Consider these images, for example:

Colors and textures in a large fan leaf. Higher magnification reveals more detail than you can see here, with patterns within patterns emerging in the texture.
Ladybug scouting our yard for aphids (aphids are “meat and potatoes” for ladybugs).
Honeybees (2) pollinating blossoms on one of our citrus trees.
Delicate colors on a new (for us) rose variety.
Morning dew on a backyard rose.

“I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Perhaps one of the upsides of this complexity is being able to enjoy and perhaps even marvel at beauty we find all around.

Published by Jesse Yow

3 thoughts on “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”

  1. Yes, indeed, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” And yet we are fallen. “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable…Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed…But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15)

    That is why we thank and praise Him, for “with His stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5).

    Like

    Reply

  2. What a powerful reminder of God’s majesty in His creation. We become complacent in accepting the wonderful gifts he has given us. And even when we lose one of these precious gifts He has given us, if we look closely, we can see His power in other ways He has given us to replace the broken parts of our body.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Kyle Cancel reply