EXPOSED IN THE DARK
My wife and I had the privilege of being able to announce to friends and family recently that we are pregnant. This is an exciting time for us. Any of you who are parents know all too well the excitement we are feeling right now. As we discussed how we would announce to our loved ones the exciting news, one thing I knew for sure that I wanted as part of our announcement was two verses from the Bible. Psalm 139: 13-14, it reads…
'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—how well I know it.'
The reason why I wanted these two verse was to proclaim to the world that I know without a shadow of a doubt that my God has blessed us with this child. I know without a shadow of a doubt that my God is in the process of forming my child within my wife. It’s the same way that you and I were formed. God is the creator of all creators.
I love two identifiers David, the writer of the Psalm, used. First, “wonderfully complex”. David says this about himself. He acknowledges that he is not formed out of simple design. He mentions how complex his body is. This is true isn’t it? It doesn’t take a scientist to see how amazing the human body is. The human body is often referred as “the most complex machine” Dr. Rakesh Parikh even talks about how each organ in our bodies are in and of themselves complex machines. Dr. Parikh says,
“Human body simply consists of number of organs like brain, heart, kidneys, liver etc. each having its specific role that most of you are aware of. Each of these organs is actually a very complex machine and we haven’t been yet able to replicate any of these. Just like a mobile handset has plastic, glass, steel etc., each organ would have number of components, let’s call them tissues. Now we know that steel is basically made up of carbon atoms, atoms being the basic unit. Similarly “cell” is the basic unit of every tissue.”*
Did you catch what Dr. Parikh said about our organs in the beginning? They are “very complex” and thus far they are not able replicate. What Dr. Parikh is saying is, even with all the advancements of current day science, no one is able to marvelously design the human body the way my God is forming my child currently. An impressive piece of creation by an impressive creator.
The second identifier David uses is for God. He says, “Your workmanship is marvelous”. Again, this is also true isn’t it? Take away any displeasures you may have with your body, when you just look at the fact that you have finger prints that no one else has, that is a marvelous piece of creation. Each one of us has a unique design. To not give God credit for the marvelous piece of workmanship that is your body, is like saying Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel is no big deal. If you felt that way and said that out loud, people would think you’re crazy. Yet oddly enough, people are just “eh” about their bodies, or they think it’s just by chance you were even born. I wasn’t there when Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, but I’m guessing he didn’t take a bunch of paint and just splash it on to the ceiling. It took time, attention to detail, and workmanship to create the master piece we have today. We have to give credit where credit is due. Our God is a masterful creator.
There is another reason, however, why I wanted those two verses for our baby announcement. I personally believe, that the majority of depression, anger, and suicide in the world today is a result of people not knowing what their true identity is. We are all searching for purpose and meaning to our lives. We want to know “What are we here for?” And “Do I even matter?” And we look for the answer to these questions through people and things, through jobs and possessions. The problem with that...? Those things fade away. They are here today and gone tomorrow. If that’s where you are finding your identity, then when they are gone, stolen, or broken, who are you?
I chose those two verses because not only does it show that God is the marvelous creator of our complex design, but it also means that God is the one who establishes our true identity. He knows us better than we know ourselves. The Bible teaches that we were created by God for God. Our identity is only found by being a child of God.
The child that God is currently forming in my wife’s womb is not our first child. A couple of summer’s ago we tragically went through a miscarriage. I will never meet my child on this side of eternity, and while that breaks my heart, the truth is that I know that my child has a perfect identity and a perfect healthy body in heaven. My God knows my first child better than I do, and the truth is our God knows us better than we know ourselves.
We often hide behind masks concealing our true identity from people because we are afraid that people won’t like us if they know who we really are and what we are really about. We are often ashamed of ourselves. But David says I the previous verse, Psalm 139:12,
'but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.'
Even when we try to hide our true identity from others, we are exposed in the darkness by God. God knows who we are better than we know ourselves. He cares for us better than we care for ourselves, and God has a better plan than we have for ourselves. Our true identity is not in what we make ourselves to be, but in who God masterfully created us to be. Ask God to show you who you were created to be today.
Peace!
*Link to Dr. Rakesh Parikh’s blog