YOU ARE...

You are fearfully, wonderfully, and skillfully made.

“I feel like you don’t think I am important?” One of my boys said to me the other night as Tim and I were trying to talk in bed. We hadn’t stopped our conversation to get him water. We kept telling him to wait. Finally, once again he came to our room with tears running down his face. We apologized and reassured him that he was important and we cared that he was thirsty There have been so many times I have felt like this with God, “I am not important,” “He has too much going on to care for me.” One of the greatest concerns that I have seen in our society in general is the lack of confidence and worth that individuals have. From comparing ourselves to others, to attempted suicide, we don’t feel important. Yet, we have a God that tells us otherwise,

Psalm 139:13-16

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them

God made YOU a special, unique, person. The psalmist describes God’s creation of man with three adverbs fearful, wonderful, and skillful. The idea of fearful is the same as the fear of the Lord in Proverbs 1:7 that is the beginning of wisdom. It is the idea of reverence. YOU were made with reverence, a serious work. God thought about what He was doing. There was a deep sense of admiration in the work He was doing. Wonderful is the idea of uniqueness or distinctness. He made YOU unique,custom made, not factory-made. YOU were made to order exactly how the designer intended. The work of YOU was skillful. It implies the idea of varied or diversity of colors. God made YOU multi-faceted,, multi-dimensional creation . YOU are not defined by one thing, one characteristic, one circumstance, or one word. There are many dimensions, parts, and aspects of YOU.

YOU are a unique, admired, custom-made, multifaceted individual.

Many times we think of this verse about our physical bodies. Our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made. But our inward person is just as fearfully, wonderfully, and skillfully made. The Bible uses several different words to talk about the person that God has made, the immaterial being, the inner person that makes up who you are. The words soul, spirit, and heart are the most commonly used terms. From what I have learned these all interact with God and are part of our relational being. These are also the parts that live on after death. When our bodies die and we are immaterial beings (until we have our resurrected bodies) we will be identified somehow. There is part of us apart from our physical bodies that will identify who we are. It is the part of us that makes up the mind, will, and emotions. That inward person was created fearfully, wonderfully, and skillfully.  

Your inward person is just as fearfully, wonderfully, and skillfully made as your physical body.

We are currently studying the book, The Spirit-Controlled Temperament by Tim LaHaye in our women’s study at church. The author, Tim LaHaye, a psychologist and pastor uses the word temperament to define the inward person, the unique individual God made. Temperament includes the permanent qualities that make you who you are. It is where your motivation comes from, your strengths and weaknesses, and your natural tendencies. God made you with a specific temperament and He made it well.(Sin is what messed it up). He intended you to be an introvert, extrovert, perfectionist, an easy going, planner, or flexible person.  He intended you to have certain strengths and qualities.

I don’t know about you, but I have always struggled comparing myself to others. Honestly, I still do. It is something that I have had more victory over through the years, but it still comes up to haunt me. I used to really struggle that I was not an extrovert. I struggled that I was not as popular as other people. I am not the person that has tons of friends or loves parties. I like to study and be quiet. I like to be with people in a more intimate setting. I tends towards having a few friends. I would watch people who were funny and the life of the party and feel bad that I could not be that. But, God has helped me overcome this struggle. He has made me studious, introverted, deep, perfectionist, thoughtful, and loyal. He has taught me that there is beauty and purpose in that. He made me that way because He wants to use me in that way. Instead of seeing it as a bad thing, I have learned to use the strengths I have for His glory and be confident and comfortable with His design. If you struggle with who you are find comfort that...

He has made you fearfully, wonderfully, and skillfully. You are important because of how He made you.

Stay tuned for more YOU AREs from the Bible!

May you live Abundant Days for His glory and your good!

Kristin Overman