Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Monday, September 8, 2014

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.  Psalms 139:14 (KJV)

There are few things in life more overpowering than the emotional tide surrounding the birth of a child.  If the birth happens to be a first – well, that can unravel even the most stoic among us. 

Levi Daniel Tate made his surprise entrance (he was 4 weeks early) last Thursday.  To say the least, he’s as cute as a bug.  But that didn’t surprise me; his parents are adorable.  Congratulations, Will and Chelsea.  (Well done, if I do say so, myself!)

Levi’s birth process was a little scary.  But that didn’t surprise me; our clan often does stuff the hard way.

The surprise was how very big the presence of God is in an event that is so natural and so frequent; I thought I’d become immune to how much of a game-changer newborns are in your life.

Everything stops.

Everything!

Including your heart.

One moment you’re sitting in the waiting room, wringing hands, joining hands asking God to handle all this; suddenly the cries from down the hall are the sweetest music you’ve ever heard.  

And the gasps from deep within your chest remind you if you want to watch your great-grandson play Little League, you must start breathing again.

But even that is not the biggest surprise; after all, grandparents are notorious worriers.

The surprise comes after the initial burst of joy at birth; it’s that fearfully and wonderfully made moment.  It’s when you’re standing over that little bundle of future joys and scares and frustrations and blessings – and you realize what a gift you’ve been given. 

What an incredible gift of family tentacles that wrap itself so far into our souls, and connect that image of almighty God within each of us – so pure, so holy, so incredibly good.  And it is in that fearful and wonderful moment that life makes so much sense.  It literally takes your breath away.

The wonder of how God has connected us to himself is inescapable; we are so reminded of that in the birth process.

But it is the fearful part that eventually overwhelms the moment.

Do I have what it takes to teach him, protect him, love him, and help show him the way?

Will I be up to being a Godly example for this tiny, holy responsibility?

I saw all this – remembered all this from times I’d stood over my three children and sensed the presence of God’s wonderful Spirit reminding me of how much thicker, stronger and more purposeful the image of God was, than either blood or water.

I remembered it from when each of our grandchildren was born, and our role was changed…again!  And how much harder it is to trust from the sidelines.

And I’m remembering it now after the birth of our third great-grandchild; God is still speaking, His wonderful voice written all over the wrinkly face and fingers of a new life.

And the tentacles of God-image, wrapped around little Levi’s soul have already reached into my own soul; and we are connected…now…and throughout eternity.

That fearful and wonderful thing…that’s God!

For You, Today…

Challenge today – try to find one person…anywhere…just one person who isn’t connected to you by that God-image stamped on his soul.  

Good luck with that one.