Wonderfully Made

 “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14a)

As one who loves to photograph the beauty of nature, one of the things that Carol and I have done wherever we have lived over the past 10 years, is to join a botanical garden. We love to stroll through the meandering paths lined with beautiful gardens in full bloom of seasonal flowers. The botanical gardens also showcase trees, shrubs, and flowers that are native to the region.

The first thing we did when we moved back to the Lowcountry of South Carolina was to purchase an annual pass to a botanical garden. Because of our mild winters, there are always some flowers in bloom. Camellias are especially ubiquitous in our neck of the woods, with dozens of varieties. Red, white, red-and-white variegated, pink.

While walking through the gardens in February, I had to do a double-take at an amazing pink camellia. Its petals were flawless, and they were beautifully arrayed in a series of overlapping circles. It was the most perfect camellia I had ever seen. As it turns out, this particular variety is called Pink Perfection. Very aptly named, indeed.

I look at something like a beautiful flower, with such intricate detail in every part, and I immediately think of the One who created such beauty. When God creates something, no detail is ignored. God’s design is so very intricate. The more I consider the infinite detail with which God creates, the more awe and wonder fills my heart.

The psalmist says, 

"For it was you who formed my inward parts;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

 I praise you, for I am fearfully 

                and wonderfully made.

    Wonderful are your works;

that I know very well.

     My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth."  

(Psalm 139:13-15)

There is no cookie cutter in God’s creative repertoire. God has made billions of people, and every one of them is absolutely unique physically and emotionally. 

Even You.

Especially you. 

You are an amazing creation of God. Before you breathed your first breath, God was making you into something beautiful. There is not one detail of your being that God neglected. 

God takes his time in making you, pouring over every detail, because God loves you with an everlasting love. 

I’m certainly not the first person to draw a comparison to flowers to expound on God’s creative activity and providential care for us. A man named Jesus (perhaps you have heard of him) once said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you...?"

Next time you pause to take note of the beauty of the spring flowers, listen to God tell you, “You think that’s beautiful? That’s nothing! If you want to see something truly beautiful, look in the mirror.”

You are wonderfully made by a wonderful God who loves you eternally.