Faith Lift: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
-- Psalm 139:14

by Marsha Norris

When my daughter was four-years old, I witnessed an amusing conversation between her and a little boy named Mike. While sitting at the kitchen table munching on his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Mike shared his vast knowledge on the roots of human origins. "My daddy says we all came from monkeys," Mike proudly proclaimed.

Never missing a "munch" on her own sandwich, my daughter matter-of-factly replied, "You may have come from a monkey, but I didn't." I could feel a chuckle swelling in my throat and quickly turned to leave the room.

Made by GOD:

While this incident was amusing, it was also telling of my four-year-old daughter's sense of who she was and where she came from. She understood that both she and her ancestors were unique human beings carefully created by a loving heavenly Father. Poor little Mike, however, thought his relatives had their origins in The Jungle Book.

"For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my
mother's womb.
My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in a secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
Your eyes saw my unformed body."
--Psalm 139:13,15,16

Knowing who made us and to whom we belong gives us a sense of identity and purpose in our lives.

In his book, You are Special, Max Lucado tells a story about the Wemmicks, small wooden people who spent their days giving stickers to each other. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of gray dot stickers. The pretty, handsome, talented Wemmicks received gold stars. But the Wemmicks who had rough wood, chipped paint, or did not have any extraordinary accomplishments received gray dots.

Punchinello only got gray dots. He had so many gray dots that he began to believe he was not a good Wemmick. Poor Punchinello based his own value on what the other Wemmicks thought of him because he did not know his creator.

One day Punchinello met a Wemmick named Lucia who had no dots or stars. Other Wemmicks tried to give Lucia stickers, but they just fell off. "Ah," thought Punchinello, "I want to be like her."

Fascinated by this small "stickerless" wooden person, he asked her why the dots and stars didn't stick. Lucia told him it was because she went to see Eli the woodcarver everyday and encouraged Punchinello to go see him too.

Punchinello mustered his courage and climbed the hill to visit Eli the woodcarver. Punchinello discovered Eli not only knew Punchinello's name, but that Eli made him.

Eli looked at the little Wemmick's gray dots and gently explained that stickers only stick if they matter to us. Lucia had no stickers because she didn't care what others thought of her, she only cared what her maker thought of her. All that should matter to Punchinello was what Eli thought of him — and Eli thought he was "pretty special."

The little Wemmick, finding it hard to believe that anyone would find him special when he had no talents and his paint was peeling, asked, "Why do I matter to you?"

"Because you're mine. That's why you matter to me," Eli answered. "The more you trust my love, the less you care about their stickers."

The woodcarver invited Punchinello to come back to see him everyday. As Punchinello headed for the door, Eli reminded him, "You are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes."

In Punchinello's heart, he believed the woodcarver. And when he did, a dot fell to the ground.

Our value should not come from who we are, but from whose we are:

Do we, like Punchinello, let the opinion of other's "stick" to us and drag us down? Or, like Lucia, are we secure in whose we are — concerned only with how our Creator sees us?

Lucia was able to deflect the marks of others because she went to see her maker everyday. Lucia knew who created her and his purpose for her life.

How much time are we spending with our Creator? Does what He thinks of us matter more than what others think of us? Check the mirror. See any stickers?

Editor's note: Although You Are Special (Crossway Books) is a children's book, it is wonderful reading for adults as well. The message of this book grows as our understanding of GOD grows: first that we are special and created by Him, then of His unfailing love, mercy, and forgiveness.