How do you feel when you see someone who was born with a body that is different? Perhaps they have an extra finger, or a missing limb, or have Down Syndrome. What are your thoughts when you see them?
When you see things in yourself that you would like to change; or when you see others who are different, do you ever wonder if God made a mistake. Did something happen that God failed to fix? Let us take a look at Scripture and see what the Bible has to say.
Psalm 39:13-15 says, “13For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. 14I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”
These verses declare the wonderful truth that you are a special creation of God. Everyone is a special creation of God. While you were still in your mother’s womb, God had His hand upon you. He Made you in a special way. Though you were “made in secret,” He could see you.
The Psalmist goes on to explain more about how a baby develops in the womb. Verse 16 says, “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”
Before your body was even formed, God could see how you were going to look. When you were too tiny to even have any body parts, God was fashioning each of your members. Even though none of your members was formed yet, God had already written them in His book.
Think about a baby from Russia that was born with no arms. While he was still a boy, someone in the United States adopted him. As he grew, this boy learned to play musical instruments with his feet. The amazing thing is that, before this boy was even born, God had written His members in His book. God knew this boy would be born with no arms. This boy was perfect because he was just the way God had made him. God had fashioned each part of this boy’s body and had made him without arms for His own special purpose.
Think also of another baby. He was born with no arms and no legs. There was only a little stub of a leg with a few toes on it. Why did such a thing happen? Isn’t this a tragedy? Nick Vujicic would not think so. He realizes God made him this way so that the glory of God might be revealed in him. He chose to praise the Lord and to use his body to honor Him.
Consider, for a moment, the beauty of the stars in the night sky. This beauty filled King David’s heart with awe. In Psalm 8:3,4, he wrote, “3When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Indeed! What is man? David saw that the stars are beautiful and the wonders of the heavens vast and marvelous. The wonders of the heavens declare God’s mighty power. When David reflected on this, he felt very small. Yet, he knew that the beautiful heavens was not the crown of God’s creation. No, that was man, whom God had made in his own image.
In verse 5, David explains, “For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.” The stars God spoke into existence. Each person He fashions with love. He forms them with His hands. The first person was a man whom He formed from the dust. The next was a woman He made from the man’s rib. Each person after that, including you and me, He formed in secret in our mother’s womb. He set His hand upon us and made us with tender loving care. Truly, we can say with the Psalmist, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalm 139:14)